Pungent

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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