means Sharp and intense to the nose or tongue — a smell or taste forceful enough to sting your senses — and by extension, biting or piercing in wit or expression.

from From Latin 'pungere,' to prick or pierce — the same root that jabs through 'puncture,' 'point,' and 'poignant.' The Romans imagined a sharp smell as something that physically stabs the nose, and the metaphor stuck: a pungent remark, like a pungent cheese, gets right under your skin.