pungent

Meaning

1. Having a strong odor that stings the nose; said especially of acidic or spicy substances.
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. Stinging; acerbic.
4. Having a sharp and stiff point.

Synonyms

acrid

sharp

hot

🥵

spicy

biting

strong

caustic

keen

piquant

peppery

nipping

acid

astringent

barbed

poignant

piercing

cutting

acrimonious

acute

mordacious

severe

smart

tart

trenchant

spice up

racy

harsh

nippy

shrill

fulgurating

stinging

pointed

pricking

bitter

crisp

savoury

mordant

abrupt

very sharp

bold

peaked

peaky

blistering

perceptive

permeating

perspicacious

piked

bite

beaked

prickly

quick-witted

rank

ready

rotten

saline

salty

scathing

screechy

be peppery

be

slashing

slick

b ting

snappish

snappy

acerbic

spiky

splenetic

stiff

strident

acerb

tangy

strong-scented

sharp-tasting

twanging

venomous

violent

acuate

be hot

sharp-pointed

sticking out

cuspidated

corrosive

crucial

cuspidal

cuspidate

discriminative

epigrammatic

fly

✈️

garish

hard

clear

impetuous

incisive

ingenious

intense

irritating

bright

malignant

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpʌnd͡ʒənt/

Etymology

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