Pungent

//ˈpʌnd͡ʒənt// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having a strong odor that stings the nose; said especially of acidic or spicy substances.

    "I accidentally dropped the bottle of ammonia and after few seconds, a very pungent stench could be detected."

  2. 2
    Having a strong taste that stings the tongue; said especially of hot (spicy) food, which has a strong and sharp or bitter taste.
  3. 3
    Stinging; acerbic. figuratively

    "The critic gave a pungent review."

  4. 4
    Having a sharp and stiff point.
Adjective
  1. 1
    capable of wounding wordnet
  2. 2
    strong and sharp wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
barbedtastyassertivepoignantacerbacerbate

Example

More examples

"Pungent fumes arose from the chemical mixture."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pungens (stem pungent-), present participle of pungo (“to sting”). Doublet of poignant.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.