What's the difference between poignant and sorrowful?

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.

Sorrowful


Definition:

  • (a.) Full of sorrow; exhibiting sorrow; sad; dejected; distressed.
  • (a.) Producing sorrow; exciting grief; mournful; lamentable; grievous; as, a sorrowful accident.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It came in a mix of joy and sorrow and brilliance under pressure, with one of the most remarkable things you will ever see on a basketball court in the biggest moment.
  • (2) Troh, a 54-year-old nursing assistant, issued a statement on Wednesday that said: “I trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care … I am now dealing with the sorrow and anger that his son was not able to see him before he died.” That appeared to be a reference to frustration at the hospital’s initial failure to diagnose him correctly, and a delay of several days before they treated him with experimental drugs.
  • (3) Goodman deceived us all, the witnesses sorrowfully admitted.
  • (4) Photograph: AP This is the moment of our deepest sorrow.
  • (5) Separately, in a Question Time-style debate at the Radio Festival today, Ofcom executive Stewart Purvis said he reacted "more in sorrow than anger" at yesterday's stinging attack on the regulator by former GMG Radio chief executive John Myers .
  • (6) 'This is not the justice we seek': sorrow in Baltimore as grief turns into riots Read more The city has improved significantly in recent years – crime dropped, the economy improved, the population stopped declining for the first time in 60 years – but you couldn’t see Baltimore’s newfound prosperity in Freddie Gray’s backyard, or in the gardens nearby.
  • (7) But at this moment of the final parting, my heart is heavy with sorrow and grief.” On death: “There is an end to everything and I want mine to come as quickly and painlessly as possible, not with me incapacitated, half in coma in bed and with a tube going into my nostrils and down to my stomach.” “Even from my sickbed, even if you are going to lower me to the grave and I feel that something is going wrong, I will get up.
  • (8) Time to listen to ‘World in Motion’ on loop while drowning a million sweet sorrows.
  • (9) Shara Proctor, who might have had hopes of gold while Okagbare busied herself with the 200m, managed only two steps of a run-up before clutching at her left thigh and leaving the arena with her hoodie pulled sorrowfully around her face.
  • (10) Prayer has comforted us in sorrow, and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.
  • (11) "Would all these girls," he asks, with a sorrow that defies any glib, one-should-be-so-lucky retort, "be fucking me if they weren't getting paid?"
  • (12) I have immense sorrow over the loss of that child but I also have immense joy when I think of her.
  • (13) More than a dozen times in his presidency, Barack Obama has appeared before television cameras and issued statements to express sorrow at a mass shooting event in America.
  • (14) The emotion called chronic sorrow, introduced in 1962 by Olshansky, has had limited exposure in the literature.
  • (15) Yet the Brazilians who were photographed unleashing their sorrow on a cloudy, darkening evening, in scenes of anguish from Estádio Mineirão to Copacabana beach, were not mourning a massacre, atrocity or anything else that might seem to justify such infinite sadness.
  • (16) This too, I recognise, is another coping strategy, a way to get through what could be a sorrowful few years or even decades ahead.
  • (17) Every day I spend in sorrow, thinking about my family and how to reach the UK.” Intelligent, and very motivated, he is particularly frustrated at not being to able to study; eventually he hopes to become a doctor.
  • (18) For my own part, I would like to express sorrow and regret to those most distressed by the actions of my predecessor.
  • (19) American viewers mourning the death of Dan Stevens' character Matthew Crawley at the end of the show's Christmas special will be able to drown their sorrows with Downton wine, wear Downton jewellery and grow Downton roses, as part of a merchandising push aimed at capitalising on the drama's phenomenal global success.
  • (20) The concert has been long prepared, Josh and his friend Ahmed from the perilous estates nearby laying tracks to "Jessie Wright" and another song for Agnes – "a tribute to a girl got shot in Hoxton", Josh says, with apparent nonchalance, but a stab of sorrowful anger in his eye.