Pungent \Pun"gent\, a. [L. pungens, -entis, p. pr. of pungere,
punctum, to prick. Cf. Compunction, Expunge, Poignant,
Point, n., Puncheon, Punctilio, Punt, v. t.]
1. Causing a sharp sensation, as of the taste, smell, or
feelings; pricking; biting; acrid; as, a pungent spice.
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Pungent radish biting infant's tongue. --Shenstone.
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The pungent grains of titillating dust. --Pope.
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2. Sharply painful; penetrating; poignant; severe; caustic;
stinging.
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With pungent pains on every side. --Swift.
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His pungent pen played its part in rousing the
nation. --J. R. Green.
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3. (Bot.) Prickly-pointed; hard and sharp.
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Syn: Acrid; piercing; sharp; penetrating; acute; keen;
acrimonious; biting; stinging.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
pungent
adj 1: sharp biting or acrid especially in taste or smell; "tasting
the pungent wood sorrel"; "pungent curry"; "a pungent
smell of burning sulfur" [ant: bland]
2: capable of wounding; "a barbed compliment"; "a biting
aphorism"; "pungent satire" [syn: barbed, biting, nipping,
mordacious]
WordNet (r) 2.0
153 Moby Thesaurus words for "pungent":
Attic, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acescent, acid, acrid,
acrimonious, acute, afflictive, agonizing, amaroidal, aphoristic,
aromatic, asperous, astringent, atrocious, axiomatic, barbed,
biting, bitter, bitter as gall, brilliant, caustic, clever, coarse,
consuming, crab, crabbed, cramping, crisp, cruel, cutting,
deafening, distressing, droll, dry, epigrammatic, escharotic,
exciting, excruciating, facetious, flavorful, formulaic,
formulistic, funny, gnawing, gnomic, grave, green, griping, hard,
harrowing, harsh, hot, humorous, humorsome, hurtful, hurting,
incisive, intense, irritating, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking,
joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, lively, loud, mordant,
nimble-witted, nose-piercing, nose-tickling, oppressive, painful,
paroxysmal, penetrating, peppery, peppy, pickled, piercing,
piquant, pithy, platitudinous, poignant, pointed, proverbial,
provocative, quick-witted, racking, racy, rapier-like, reeking,
rich, rough, salt, salty, sapid, sarcastic, scathing,
scintillating, seasoned, sec, sententious, severe, sharp, shooting,
smart, snappy, sour, sour as vinegar, soured, sourish, sparkling,
spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spicy, spirited, sprightly,
stabbing, stern, stimulating, stinging, strong, strong-scented,
strong-smelling, succinct, suffocating, tangy, tart, tartish,
tasty, terse, thundering, tormenting, torturous, trenchant,
uninteresting, unripe, unsweet, unsweetened, upsetting, vinegarish,
vinegary, vitriolic, vivacious, whimsical, witty, zesty
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
barbed, biting, mordacious, nipping
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