Trenchant

//ˈtɹɛnʃənt// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp. archaic

    "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. 2
    Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.; Adapted for tearing into flesh. archaic

    "The trenchant talonid is a character of some miacids and distinguishes these teeth from the hyaenodontids and oxyaenids."

  3. 3
    Keen; biting; vigorously articulate and effective; severe. figuratively

    "trenchant wit"

Adjective
  1. 1
    clearly or sharply defined to the mind wordnet
  2. 2
    characterized by or full of force and vigor wordnet
  3. 3
    having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acerbacerbateacerbicacidacidicacidulent

Example

More examples

"The criticism was trenchant but fair."

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.