smelly

adjective

ˈsme-lē How to pronounce smelly (audio)
Definition of smellynext
as in stinking
having an unpleasant smell your smelly sneakers are enough to raise the dead

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 smelly Use the water and hydrogen peroxide solution to rinse out smelly garbage cans. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 2 Aug. 2026 While baking soda is famously good at deodorizing smelly things, adding salt to compost piles can interrupt the composting process. — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 July 2026 The smelly smoke from the fires spreading across 2,528 square miles in the Province of Ontario snuck into Lake County overnight last Wednesday into Thursday. — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026 As the day goes on, these smelly specimens will close back up and collapse, losing their infamously rotten odor. — Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for smelly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smelly
  1. stinking
  2. stinky
  3. ripe
  4. malodorous
  5. foul
  6. disgusting
  7. filthy
  8. fetid
Adjective
  • For this argument Thomasine was jailed—stuffed into a damp, stinking, deadly stone cell crawling with rats and lice—to force her to change her beliefs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • America’s political landscape has become a stinking mess.
    — Mary Ellen Klas, Boston Herald, 1 June 2026
Definition of stinking
Adjective
  • Stop at Callicoon Wine Merchant for a bottle paired with a stinky cheese on their sunny patio.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Oct. 2026
  • These repellents are made of stinky smells and bad flavors that deer do not like, like potassium sorbate, whole egg solids, thyme oil, garlic, and sodium lauryl sulfate.
    — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of stinky
Adjective
  • There was a wide stone wall on which someone had placed a row of ripe quinces from a nearby tree.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Le is particularly fond of the store’s Thai green bananas, which remain bright green even when fully ripe and develop an intensely sweet flavor.
    — Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of ripe
Adjective
  • Skunks can cause anxiety in homeowners by harming lawns and possibly threatening Rover with their malodorous defenses.
    — Felicia Feaster, Martha Stewart, 20 June 2026
  • Be advised that only a small fraction of arums are malodorous.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 27 May 2026
Definition of malodorous
Adjective
  • Shohei Ohtani emerged from the visiting dugout at American Family Field with a bat in his hand, and the mass of media members scattered in foul territory up the third-base line shifted his way, pulled by the magnetic force that is Ohtani’s stardom.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of foul
Adjective
  • That’s likely to inspire either affection or immediate exhaustion, depending on your fondness for the infamously disgusting performance group.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • Some orphans, their faces filthy, walked the stands hawking candy.
    — Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Myriad violations, from food that should’ve been trashed weeks earlier to filthy equipment, befouled the state inspection of a West Miami-Dade supermarket this week.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of filthy
Adjective
  • However, the Mariners play in the AL West, a fetid swamp of baseball disappointment.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The Lineage warehouse fire, which erupted a mile away nearly two months ago, still blankets the church every morning with the fetid stench of millions of pounds of rotting food that have yet to be trucked away.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of fetid

Browse Nearby Words

smells (of)
smelly
smidgen
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Smelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smelly. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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