variants
or chiefly British smelt
1
2
as in felt
to have a vague awareness of
I smell something fishy about this situation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of smelled
The Giants smelled blood in the water against a vulnerable Chargers offensive line.
—
Dan Duggan, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
The driver of a car that struck and killed a woman in Miami last week smelled like booze and had slurred speech, according to law enforcement officials.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
When officers arrived, Ferguson smelled of alcohol and was wearing an empty ankle holster, per previous PEOPLE reporting.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
As for the infants, those whose mothers ingested garlic attached to the breast for longer periods and sucked more when the milk smelled like garlic.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025
My grandma always slept with curlers in her hair to have perfect spirals the next day, and my mom’s jet-black hair was always long, glossy, and smelled amazing.
—Natasha López, Refinery29, 10 Sep. 2025
The vape smoke smelled like unicorn farts.
—Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
With no cell service, my two spoiled house pets immediately rebranded themselves as wild animals—sniffing, digging, howling at the moon, and rolling in whatever smelled the worst.
—The Editors, Outside, 26 Aug. 2025
Fresh waffle cones are made in-house and can be smelled long before entering, and pair with 18 flavors of ice cream.
—Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 21 Aug. 2025
Dan Duggan, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
The driver of a car that struck and killed a woman in Miami last week smelled like booze and had slurred speech, according to law enforcement officials.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
When officers arrived, Ferguson smelled of alcohol and was wearing an empty ankle holster, per previous PEOPLE reporting.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
As for the infants, those whose mothers ingested garlic attached to the breast for longer periods and sucked more when the milk smelled like garlic.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025
My grandma always slept with curlers in her hair to have perfect spirals the next day, and my mom’s jet-black hair was always long, glossy, and smelled amazing.
—Natasha López, Refinery29, 10 Sep. 2025
The vape smoke smelled like unicorn farts.
—Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
With no cell service, my two spoiled house pets immediately rebranded themselves as wild animals—sniffing, digging, howling at the moon, and rolling in whatever smelled the worst.
—The Editors, Outside, 26 Aug. 2025
Fresh waffle cones are made in-house and can be smelled long before entering, and pair with 18 flavors of ice cream.
—Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smelled
Verb
-
Astro came up to Mars and immediately sniffed him and then started licking him.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Sep. 2025
-
However, the dogs sniffed more frequently and longer when searching for the toy in the dark.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
LaForest felt the urge herself.—
John Wisely,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Those who felt the quake are encouraged to report it through the USGS Felt Report form.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The flood shoved furniture into walls, sucked photographs from drawers.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
-
What sucked was how it was handled.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Medicines needing to be inhaled or smoked are prohibited unless in a prescribed inhaler.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
23 Sep. 2025
-
The fungus releases spores that rise into the air and can be inhaled, Thompson said.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Many platforms had already sensed a change in the wind; Roblox stepped up its safety controls in July.—
Belinda Luscombe,
Time,
8 Oct. 2025
-
In third grade, Lafferty sensed something was wrong.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The trees were cut down, sawed in half, hollowed out and tied back together for the musicians to use.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Aug. 2025
-
Fanatics shared the moment Tennessee Titans first overall pick, quarterback Cam Ward, saw Brady pop up on the screen to give him some wise words.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Researchers tasted the first trials of ant yogurt, where the milk had begun to coagulate and acidify, which are signs of early yogurt fermentation.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The Phillies have tasted enough bitterness in previous Octobers to know that.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Dark skies With the fire burning, Blossom of Medstar, noticed the morning's sun disappeared.—
Georgea Kovanis,
Freep.com,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Hiro noticed Kerr had a big one on his right ear and a smaller one on his left ear.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smelled. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share