poignancy

poignancy
    n 1: a state of deeply felt distress or sorrow; "a moment of
         extraordinary poignancy" [syn: {poignance}, {poignancy}]
    2: a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow);
       "the film captured all the pathos of their situation" [syn:
       {pathos}, {poignancy}]
    

Poignancy \Poign"an*cy\, n.
   The quality or state of being poignant; as, the poignancy of
   satire; the poignancy of grief. --Swift.
   [1913 Webster]
    

89 Moby Thesaurus words for "poignancy":
      acerbity, acidity, acidulousness, acridity, acrimony, asperity,
      astringency, bite, bitingness, bitterness, bleakness, causticity,
      cheerlessness, comfortlessness, cuttingness, dash, depression,
      discomfort, dismalness, distress, distressfulness, dreariness,
      drive, edge, effectiveness, fierceness, force, forcefulness, grief,
      grievousness, grip, guts, harshness, impressiveness, incisiveness,
      joylessness, keenness, lamentability, lamentation, liveliness,
      mordacity, mordancy, mournfulness, nervosity, nervousness, pain,
      painfulness, pathos, pep, piquancy, pitiability, pitiableness,
      pitifulness, point, power, punch, pungency, raciness,
      regrettableness, rigor, roughness, sadness, severity, sharpness,
      sinew, sinewiness, sorrowfulness, sourness, sparkle, spirit, sting,
      strength, stridency, stringency, strong language, tartness, teeth,
      trenchancy, vehemence, verve, vigor, vigorousness, violence,
      virulence, vitality, vivacity, vividness, woebegoneness,
      woefulness