Trenchant \Trench"ant\, a. [OF. trenchant, F. tranchant, p. pr.
See Trench, v. t.]
1. Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp. " Trenchant was
the blade." --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: Keen; biting; severe; as, trenchant wit.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
trenchant
adj 1: having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought,
expression, or intellect; "searching insights";
"trenchant criticism" [syn: searching]
2: characterized by or full of force and vigor; "a hard-hitting
expose"; "a trenchant argument" [syn: hard-hitting]
3: clearly or sharply defined to the mind; "clear-cut evidence
of tampering"; "Claudius was the first to invade Britain
with distinct...intentions of conquest"; "trenchant
distinctions between right and wrong" [syn: clear-cut, distinct]
WordNet (r) 2.0
134 Moby Thesaurus words for "trenchant":
acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous,
acrid, acrimonious, active, acute, aggressive, animated,
apperceptive, appercipient, argute, asperous, astringent, astute,
biting, bitter, brisk, caustic, clear-cut, cogent, corroding,
corrosive, crisp, cutting, discerning, double-edged, driving,
dynamic, edged, effective, energetic, enterprising, enthusiastic,
escharotic, farseeing, farsighted, fierce, forceful, forcible,
foreseeing, foresighted, forethoughted, forethoughtful,
full of pep, go-go, gutsy, harsh, hearty, imperative, impetuous,
impressive, incisive, ingoing, intense, irritating, keen, kinetic,
lively, living, longheaded, longsighted, lusty, mettlesome,
mordacious, mordant, nervous, nose-tickling, penetrating, peppy,
perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, perspicuous, piercing,
piquant, poignant, pointed, powerful, probing, provident, punchy,
pungent, rigorous, robust, rough, sagacious, salty, sarcastic,
sardonic, satiric, scalding, scathing, scorching, sensational,
severe, sharp, sinewed, sinewy, slashing, smacking, snappy, sour,
spanking, spirited, stabbing, stinging, strenuous, strident,
striking, stringent, strong, take-charge, take-over, tart, telling,
understanding, vehement, vibrant, vigorous, violent, virulent,
vital, vitriolic, vivacious, vivid, withering, zestful, zesty,
zippy
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
clear-cut, distinct, hard-hitting, searching
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