trenchant

adj
/ˈtɹɛnʃənt/

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French trenchant, the present participle of trenchier (“to cut”).

  1. derived from trenchant

Definitions

  1. Fitted to trench or cut

    Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.

    • The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, / For want of fighting was grown rusty, / And ate into itself, for lack / Of somebody to hew and hack.
  2. Keen

    Keen; biting; vigorously articulate and effective; severe.

    • trenchant wit
    • His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.
    • His trenchant criticisms of the Church's repression […] include a discussion of the considerable 1938 success of the fledgling NODL in getting magazines removed from various points of sale.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for trenchant. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA