[syn: pathos, poignancy]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Poignancy \Poign"an*cy\, n.
   The quality or state of being poignant; as, the poignancy of
   satire; the poignancy of grief. --Swift.
   [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
poignancy
    n 1: a state of deeply felt distress or sorrow; "a moment of
         extraordinary poignancy" [syn: poignance, poignancy]
    2: a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow);
       "the film captured all the pathos of their situation" [syn:
       pathos, poignancy]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "poignancy":
   acerbity, acidity, acidulousness, acridity, acrimony, asperity,
   astringency, bite, bitingness, bitterness, bleakness, causticity,
   cheerlessness, comfortlessness, cuttingness, dash, depression,
   discomfort, dismalness, distress, distressfulness, dreariness,
   drive, edge, effectiveness, fierceness, force, forcefulness, grief,
   grievousness, grip, guts, harshness, impressiveness, incisiveness,
   joylessness, keenness, lamentability, lamentation, liveliness,
   mordacity, mordancy, mournfulness, nervosity, nervousness, pain,
   painfulness, pathos, pep, piquancy, pitiability, pitiableness,
   pitifulness, point, power, punch, pungency, raciness,
   regrettableness, rigor, roughness, sadness, severity, sharpness,
   sinew, sinewiness, sorrowfulness, sourness, sparkle, spirit, sting,
   strength, stridency, stringency, strong language, tartness, teeth,
   trenchancy, vehemence, verve, vigor, vigorousness, violence,
   virulence, vitality, vivacity, vividness, woebegoneness,
   woefulness