What's the difference between nostalgic and poignant?

Nostalgic


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to nostalgia; affected with nostalgia.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I must also accept that Cameron recruits the best and the brightest, who just happen to be his schoolmates, and that education should be overhauled by a nostalgic zealot who has never taught and dismisses evidence.
  • (2) Then there were American imperialists, Turkish nostalgics for the Ottoman days and Iranians ambitious for Islamic terrorism in the Balkans.
  • (3) For a minute or two they get all nostalgic for last year’s showstopper high points.
  • (4) Yet ice cream does do something funny to a lot of us: it makes us nostalgic and happy and, if you take your cues from Bridget Jones, it helps us recover from heartbreak.
  • (5) Asked if he felt nostalgic, Obama replied: “Of course.” With those two words and his last presidential words immortalised on the web, he was out.
  • (6) "[They] actually made me feel nostalgic for Billy Crystal, something I didn't think was possible," he wrote.
  • (7) Hey, I say, when I look at this record it makes me feel nostalgic for my youth, and I didn't even write the songs, so God knows what it does for you.
  • (8) and a mother showing off her own placenta almost make one nostalgic for the days of annual round-robin newsletters.
  • (9) Even the HMC , mouthpiece of the independent sector, is reported to have spoken out against a "knee-jerk return to the nostalgic golden age of O-levels".
  • (10) Reuters Photograph: Reuters “I think one of the strengths of nostalgia is that even if they have not had a good childhood, most people have at least one nostalgic memory that they cherish and that they can use repeatedly.
  • (11) In one experiment, subjects in whom nostalgia had been induced were asked to set up a room for a meeting – those in a nostalgic frame of mind consistently set up the chairs closer than those in the control.
  • (12) To those critics who will accuse him of romanticism and nostalgia, his defiant reply is the first page of the introduction: things were better in the past, and it's not nostalgic to say so.
  • (13) "Union Jacks is all about bringing back nostalgic British classics using the best of artisanal ingredients.
  • (14) The line from New Labour nostalgics that “we won three elections” misses the point for millions.
  • (15) Adepitan has just made a powerful programme about polio in Nigeria, and it has left him both angry and nostalgic.
  • (16) (For Wilson's character, who romanticises that era, it's a dream come true – but the Parisians of the 20s are themselves nostalgic for the 1890s.
  • (17) In another experiment, those in nostalgic moods were asked to write essays, which were compared in a blind judging process with those of peers who’d had no induced feelings of nostalgia.
  • (18) When Ikea closes in the near future (as, please God, it will), will I be tweeting my nostalgic feelings about its contribution to extending allen keys and misery worldwide?
  • (19) On the left, some people seem nostalgic for the 1970s; on the right, eyes mist over at the mention of the 1990s.
  • (20) Nor does last month’s Singapore race fill the British driver with a nostalgic glow.

Poignant


Definition:

  • (a.) Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent.
  • (a.) Fig.: Pointed; keen; satirical.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Totò was a legend in the Vesuvian city – a comedian of genius; poignant, mysterious.
  • (2) Fleeting though it may have been (he jetted off to New York this morning and is due in Toronto on Saturday), there was a poignant reason for his appearance: he was here to play a tribute set to Frankie Knuckles, the Godfather of house and one of Morales's closest friends, who died suddenly in March.
  • (3) One of the most poignant exchanges came when Tony was asked by @ juliangratton to sum up the last seven years of his life.
  • (4) The exercise yard is adorned with poignant children's paintings in response to school trips here.
  • (5) This double bind may be particularly poignant for grandparents in single mother families.
  • (6) This addition was particularly poignant as Andrew Jackson’s legacy includes the decision to sign the Indian Removal Act of 1830 , which gave the federal government power to expel Native American tribes from their land.
  • (7) This poignant letter, addressing Recep Tayyip Erdogan and written by one of the protesters in Istanbul's historic Taksim Square , was widely circulated on Turkey's social media.
  • (8) Treasure Island gives us an intense sense of place, and a poignant coming-of-age story full of moral ambiguity.
  • (9) Their songs ranged from the almost unbearably poignant ("Hand in Glove") to the frankly vulnerable ("How Soon is Now").
  • (10) The image of the France midfielder walking, head bowed, past the World Cup trophy is one of the more poignant in football history.
  • (11) The second series of BBC1’s hit drama Happy Valley ended on Tuesday night , bowing out in a wondrous blaze of confrontation, perceptive resolution and poignant revelation.
  • (12) Ed Miliband said: "This is a tragic and poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by our armed forces in serving our country with bravery and distinction."
  • (13) But the American author, already the recipient of the Man Booker International prize, the Pulitzer and the National Book award , said it was "particularly poignant for me to have gotten news of the award only a few weeks after the death of Carlos Fuentes, who received the award in 1994".
  • (14) A picture sits on each one of the chairs, decorated by poignant letters, orange flowers and gifts.
  • (15) Or perhaps we could focus on the relationship of Leia and Solo, now married, and there could be a heart-rendingly poignant study of their elderly existence together, rather like Michael Haneke's Amour , but set in space.
  • (16) Dern, all windblown white hair and stubble, is often entirely silent and withdrawn, and all the more compelling and poignant for that.
  • (17) On the basis of this limited but poignant experience, we propose an outline of steps in management to help others avoid similar problems.
  • (18) Yet the narratives in Benefits Street have a human and poignant quality, often presenting decent and compassionate people disenfranchised by an unfair society.
  • (19) Sandy Nairne, director of the NPG, said: "The Van Dyck self-portrait is a poignant portrait of great significance.
  • (20) It was poignant, afterwards, to hear Martínez try to put the human element into some perspective.