All 4 Uses
pungent
in
Jane Eyre
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- I felt a drop or two of blood from my head trickle down my neck, and was sensible of somewhat pungent suffering: these sensations for the time predominated over fear, and I received him in frantic sort.†
p. 14.3 *
- Surely the Mary Ann Wilson I have mentioned was inferior to my first acquaintance: she could only tell me amusing stories, and reciprocate any racy and pungent gossip I chose to indulge in; while, if I have spoken truth of Helen, she was qualified to give those who enjoyed the privilege of her converse a taste of far higher things.†
p. 93.4
- The sarcasm that had repelled, the harshness that had startled me once, were only like keen condiments in a choice dish: their presence was pungent, but their absence would be felt as comparatively insipid.†
p. 218.4
- I like you more than I can say; but I'll not sink into a bathos of sentiment: and with this needle of repartee I'll keep you from the edge of the gulf too; and, moreover, maintain by its pungent aid that distance between you and myself most conducive to our real mutual advantage.†
p. 315.4
Definitions:
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(1)
(pungent) strong smelling or tasting
or much more rarely: anything sharp, painful, or penetrating -- physically or emotionallyIn reference to taste or smell, pungent is more often associated with a strong flavor than a particular flavor. Some associate it with a high level of volatile acidity. Some wine connoisseurs interchange the word pungent with earthy. - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)