In ichthyology, stiff and sharp-pointed: as, a pungent spine.
Piercing; sharp.
Specifically — In botany, terminating gradually in a hard sharp point, as the lobes of the holly-leaf.
In entomology, fitted for piercing or penetrating: as, a pungent ovipositor.
Sharp and painful; poignant.
Affecting the tongue like small sharp points; stinging; acrid.
Sharply affecting the sense of smell: as, pungent snuff.
Hence, sharply affecting the mind; curt and expressive; caustic; racy; biting.
Synonyms Sharp, stinging, keen, peppery, acrid, caustic. Piquant, Pungent, Poignant. That which is piquant is just tart enough to be agreeable; that which is pungent is so tart that, if it were more so, it would be positively disagreeable; that which is poignant is likely to prove actually disagreeable to most persons. Pungent is manifestly figurative when not applied to the sense of taste, or, less often, of smell; piquant is similar, but less forcible; poignant is now used chiefly of mental states, etc., as poignant grief, or of things affecting the mind, as poignant wit.