Synonyms of smelled

smelled

verb

variants or chiefly British smelt

past tense of smell

1

as in sniffed

to become aware of by means of the sense organs in the nose

we smelled the aroma of freshly baked cookies as soon as we walked in the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sniffed
• inhaled
• breathed
• scented
• whiffed
• snuffed
• drank (in)
• nosed
• snorted
• respired
• savored
• snuffled

2

as in sensed

to have a vague awareness of

I smell something fishy about this situation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sensed
• felt
• saw
• heard
• noticed
• tasted
• perceived
• scented
• realized
• expected
• looked (at)
• discovered
• noted
• remarked
• spied
• learned
• anticipated
• witnessed
• beheld
• observed
• viewed
• discerned
• suspected
• sighted
• ascertained
• regarded
• eyed
• guessed
• found out
• supposed
• espied
• distinguished
• foresaw
• assumed
• caught on (to)
• presumed
• descried
• surmised
• speculated
• divined
• conjectured
• foreknew

3

as in sucked

to be objectionable or unsatisfactory

that movie smells—I wouldn't waste my money on it if I were you

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sucked
• bit
• stank

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ruled
• rocked

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of smelled

The food smelled sour and the water tasted off, several said. — Hanna Park, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

Aryna Sabalenka stopped a match because, apparently, the stadium smelled more like weed than your neighbor’s van with the Dio album cover airbrushed on the side. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026

The shower water was scalding; the meat in the food smelled off. — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026

Officers initially smelled the odor of unburnt cannabis during the stop, according to police, and Mark Stephens handed them an open container of weed. — Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026

Xcel crews told fire officials that a nearby business had used a cleaning solution that smelled like propane gas. — Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 13 Aug. 2026

Incident reports show there was also a burn barrel which smelled of decomposition. — Nikki Battiste, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026

According to an incident report by the Gainesville Police Department, Bader smelled of alcohol after that collision. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 31 July 2026

Harvest had finished two weeks ago and the cellar smelled ripely of yeast, like fruit and uncooked dough. — Kyle Lucia Wu, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 July 2026