malodorous

adjective

mal·​odor·​ous ˌmal-ˈō-də-rəs How to pronounce malodorous (audio)
1
: having a bad odor
a malodorous mixture of chemicals
2
: highly improper
malodorous practices and chicanery in high financial placesNew Republic
malodorously adverb
malodorousness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for malodorous

malodorous, stinking, fetid, noisome, putrid, rank, fusty, musty mean bad-smelling.

malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

prisoners were held in stinking cells
the fetid odor of skunk cabbage

noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter.

the putrid smell of rotting fish

rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.

a fusty attic
the musty odor of a damp cellar

Examples of malodorous in a Sentence

the cellar will need to be cleared of several malodorous piles of garbage
Recent Examples on the Web Because each snail yielded little more than a drop of the discharge — a clear, malodorous liquid — some 250,000 were required to produce an ounce of dye, by some accounts. Franz Lidz, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Only modest changes with age were observed and there was no relation between gas production and stool consistency, although stools were more likely to be malodorous when concentrations of H2S and/or CH3SH were high. Discover Magazine, 19 Nov. 2019 This means that those footsies won’t develop the malodorous aroma that haunts the bottoms of sleeping bags on long overnighters, even when worn for a few days in a row. Meg Carney, Field & Stream, 4 Jan. 2024 Dirty Labs Bio Enzyme Laundry Booster Image courtesy Dirty Labs Our latest Bio Enzyme Laundry Booster is designed to work seamlessly with our Bio Laundry Detergents, targeting your toughest and most malodorous laundry with a planet-friendly approach. Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2023 It’s flushed down dark pipes into malodorous sewers. Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2012 Sulphur-containing gases are the major, but not the only, malodorous components of human flatus. Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 14 Jan. 2010 Its advanced technology helps trap malodorous molecules, neutralizing odors instead of merely masking them. Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2023 Overcoming and overturning this rampant fraud before the fundraising drive ends Dec. 31 is a tall order, but those of us who see through the deep state lies can do it, sending a message to the malodorous Huppke and feeding the hungry at the same time. Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, 17 Dec. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'malodorous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of malodorous was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near malodorous

Cite this Entry

“Malodorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malodorous. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

malodorous

adjective
mal·​odor·​ous (ˈ)mal-ˈōd-ə-rəs How to pronounce malodorous (audio)
: having a bad smell
malodorously adverb
malodorousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on malodorous

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