Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Pungent

Pungent , adjective

[Latin pungens, -entis, present participle of pungere, punctum, to prick. Compare Compunction, Expunge, Poignant, Point, n., Puncheon, Punctilio, Punt, transitive verb]

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.
(Botany) Prickly-pointed; hard and sharp.