Pungent, a.
Etymology: [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. Pungent radish biting infant's tongue. Shenstone. The pungent grains of titillating dust. Pope.
2. Sharply painful; penetrating; poignant; severe; caustic; stinging. With pungent pains on every side. Swift. His pungent pen played its part in rousing the nation. J. R. Green.
3. (Bot.)
Prickly-pointed; hard and sharp.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Acrid; piercing; sharp; penetrating; acute; keen; acrimonious; biting; stinging.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for pungent; he lists it under bitter, racy.
Where he writes about it:
Pungent suggests the effect of pepper or snuff on the organs of taste or smell; as, a pungent odor. — from bitter
Pungent denotes something sharply irritating to the organs of taste or smell, as pepper, vinegar, ammonia; piquant denotes a quality similar in kind to pungent but less in degree, stimulating and agreeable; pungent spices may be deftly compounded into a piquant sauce. — from racy
As applied to literary products, racy refers to that which has a striking, vigorous, pleasing originality; spicy to that which is stimulating to the mental taste, as spice is to the physical; piquant and pungent in their figurative use keep very close to their literal sense. — from racy