tranchantadj.
Early form of trenchant adj. and n.; also from 18th cent. a loanword from French; esp. in figurative sense: = trenchant adj. 2; also of colours, glaring, crude.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > sword > [adjective] > sharp or keen
tranchanta1529
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > incisive
trenchanta1325
eagera1382
keena1400
tuant1672
tranchant1776
incisivea1850
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > garish
violenta1522
garisha1568
savage1706
raw1763
criard1840
tranchant1841
flagrant1858
blaring1866
criant1876
screamy1882
screaming1883
raucous1919
shrieking1958
shrill1973
a1529 J. Skelton Poems against Garnesche in Poet Wks. (1843) I. 124 Your sworde ye swere, I wene, So tranchaunt and so kene.
1776 H. Walpole Let. to W. Mason 18 Feb. Modest as he is tranchant and sly as Montesquieu without being so recherché.
1812 Edinb. Rev. Feb. 475 The Notes are written in a flippant, lively, tranchant and assuming style.
1832 L. Hunt Poems Pref. 22 Dryden had a tranchant sword, which demanded stoutness in the sheath.
1841 W. M. Thackeray Second Funeral Napoleon iii The raw tranchant colours of the new banners.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.a1529