as in sharpened
having an edge thin enough to cut or pierce something
even the most trenchant sword could not sever the bonds of loyalty between them
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Recent Examples of trenchant
Whereas Videodrome could once reductively be described as a cautionary tale about the corrosive influence of television, its anxieties have only grown more trenchant.
—
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
These basic ideas, far from revelatory, never come close to the trenchant critiques of hedonism in Wilde’s 1891 novel.
—Christian Lewis, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
Image Wood’s critique — the way technology has left us prone to dysfunctional loneliness — is trenchant, but his approach is fundamentally goofy.
—Ismail Muhammad, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
So maybe no one was necessarily looking for trenchant commentary on our through-the-looking-glass moment in a Marvel movie, even if The Falcon and the Winter Soldier provided the perfect set up.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trenchant
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
These basic ideas, far from revelatory, never come close to the trenchant critiques of hedonism in Wilde’s 1891 novel.
—Christian Lewis, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
Image Wood’s critique — the way technology has left us prone to dysfunctional loneliness — is trenchant, but his approach is fundamentally goofy.
—Ismail Muhammad, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
So maybe no one was necessarily looking for trenchant commentary on our through-the-looking-glass moment in a Marvel movie, even if The Falcon and the Winter Soldier provided the perfect set up.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trenchant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trenchant
sharp
Adjective
-
The withdrawal, and the chaos that accompanied it, drew sharp criticism from many Americans.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 June 2025
-
And then there’s the funny, sharp and deeply ironic montages of Lucy’s clients.—
Abigail Lee,
Variety,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trenchant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trenchant. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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