These words all signify sharp in smell, taste or flavour. Savoury , tangy and piquant mean pleasantly sharp in taste. Savoury emphasizes most strongly the agreeable nature of the taste, and in a related sense means appetizing, whether sharp in taste or not: to eat every savoury morsel of a delectable strew. Piquant suggests an appetizing tartness and emphasizes vividness of taste and strength of flavour. Tangy usually implies a touch or impression of tartness rather than a heavy or long-lasting dose: a tangy soft drink. It is mild in force, and is more common in informal contexts than either savoury or piquant . In extended senses savoury can refer to anything eagerly received: a savoury bit of gossip. Piquant suggests something that is lively and charming, and therefore of compelling interest: a piquant account of a contretemps with a Parisian butcher; Audrey Hepburn has a piquant quality that endears her to many filmgoers.

Spicy means highly flavoured, and usually, but not necessarily, implies that the strong seasoning is pleasant: a spicy dish that included red pepper and horseradish; so spicy that we had to gulp water after every bite. In its figurative sense spicy means somewhat improper or risqué, and implies that certain included details are used to stimulate interest as spices are used to enhance flavour: a spicy story of the loves of a film actress.

Anything acrid or prickly to the senses is said to be pungent . A pungent odour is not only strong, but keen and penetrating: the pungent smell of burning leaves; The pungent odour of sulpuretted hydrogen resembles that of rotten eggs. Pungent writing is colourful, sardonic and sarcastic, and is characterized by a piercing or penetrating quality that is at once memorable and forceful.

• The pungent style of Henry Lawson left its mark on Australian letter; a pungent satire of middle-class mating customs.