Pungency (/ˈpʌndʒənsi/ (listen)) refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat,[1][2][3] found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy (/ˈpiːkənsi/) is sometimes applied to foods with a lower degree of pungency[4] that are "agreeably stimulating to the palate".