Link Centre Dictionary

pungent

pun·gent

UK/ˈpʌnd͡ʒənt/ US/ˈpʌndʒʌnt/ uncommon

adjective

1.

sharp biting or acrid especially in taste or smell

  • “tasting the pungent wood sorrel”
  • “pungent curry”
  • “a pungent smell of burning sulfur”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

capable of wounding

  • “a barbed compliment”
  • “a biting aphorism”
  • “pungent satire”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

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

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.