trenchant

Thought I knew this word. Guess not.

Definition of trenchant:
adjective
“1. Possessing or displaying perceptions of great accuracy and sensitivity: acute, incisive, keen, penetrating, perceptive, probing, sensitive, sharp.

2. So sharp as to cause mental pain: acerbic, acid, acidic, acrid, astringent, biting, caustic, corrosive, cutting, mordacious, mordant, pungent, scathing, sharp, slashing, stinging, truculent, vitriolic.” (answers.com).

Where I ran across it:
7/9/08 NYT article, “Dreams of Laura” by Maureen Dowd, about “American Wife,” a fictionalized biography of First Lady Laura Bush etal.

“…Ms. Sittenfeld was not out to sensationalize but sympathize. The portraits of Laura and W. — known as Alice and Charlie Blackwell here — are trenchant and make you like them more.…”

My two cents:
I’ll admit right here I had this one wrong. I always thought trenchant meant something akin to relevant, germane, applicable, significant. Apparently not. And now I am flummoxed. Check out definitions 1 and 2 above. How does the same word have two so totally opposite meanings? What do you think about the possibility of being “sensitive” and “vitriolic” at the same time? Is that really achievable? Maybe it means that you are being sensitive to the fact that there’s some trash talk going on, and… you’re the one talking?? Clearly I need a clue on this one.

And apparently all it takes to avoid invading someone’s privacy, or worse, engaging in libel and slander, is to write stuff you know about people, make up the rest, assign them pseudonyms, and call the whole thing a fictional biography. Boom. Tom Wolfe did it with “A Man in Full.” James Frey did it but didn't admit it with “A Million Little Pieces”. Too bad for him. Shoulda woulda coulda. Fictional biographies certainly are successful these days, and I'm sure "Dreams of Laura" is no exception. Entertaining? No doubt. But, trenchant? Hell if I know.