English

Alternative forms

• trenchaunt (obsolete)

Adjective

trenchant ‎(comparative more trenchant, superlative most trenchant)

1. (obsolete) Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.
   • 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, canto 1:

     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. (figuratively) Keen; biting; vigorously effective and articulate; severe.

   trenchant wit‎

   • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 1:

     His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.

Translations

Middle French

Etymology

Old French trenchant.

Noun

trenchant m, f ‎(plural trenchans)

1. sharp

Descendants

• French: tranchant

Old French

Adjective

trenchant m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular trenchant or trenchante)

1. sharp; razor sharp

Declension

Verb

trenchant

1. present participle of trenchier