as in stinking
having an unpleasant smell
your smelly sneakers are enough to raise the dead
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smelly
Tripti Bhattacharya, a paleoclimatologist at Syracuse University, also takes advantage of waxy substances—though much less smelly ones.
—
Hannah Richter,
Scientific American,
7 May 2026
Her yard was covered in thick, smelly bird poop.
—
Emily Holshouser,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Apr. 2026
The key here is keeping the air purifier as close to the litter boxes as possible so smelly dust clouds don’t have a chance to travel.
—
Kayla Blanton,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
Kampot is also renowned for its durian, a tropical spiky fruit which—despite its pungent smell, often compared with smelly socks—is beloved for its sweet custardy taste.
—
Vicky Smith,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smelly
Hannah Richter,
Scientific American,
7 May 2026
Her yard was covered in thick, smelly bird poop.
—
Emily Holshouser,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Apr. 2026
The key here is keeping the air purifier as close to the litter boxes as possible so smelly dust clouds don’t have a chance to travel.
—
Kayla Blanton,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
Kampot is also renowned for its durian, a tropical spiky fruit which—despite its pungent smell, often compared with smelly socks—is beloved for its sweet custardy taste.
—
Vicky Smith,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smelly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smelly
Adjective
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America’s political landscape has become a stinking mess.
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America’s political landscape has become a stinking mess.
Adjective
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The beaches of South Florida are currently clogged with bristly, stinky and downright annoying piles of seaweed known as sargassum.
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Freshen Shoes The next time your stinky sneakers and overworked sock shoes need freshening, fight those unpleasant odors with paper towels.
Adjective
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Not only is Earth's closest celestial neighbor a pristine time capsule ripe for study – preserved almost unaltered throughout the course of billions of years – but the moon is viewed as a stepping stone for human exploration deeper into the cosmos.
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Alongside ripe avocados, fresh tomatoes, and spices, this dip is topped with queso blanco and pomegranate seeds.
Adjective
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Skunks can cause anxiety in homeowners by harming lawns and possibly threatening Rover with their malodorous defenses.
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Be advised that only a small fraction of arums are malodorous.
Adjective
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Human remains were found in the chimney of a public school in Queens, New York, on Tuesday morning while officials were investigating a foul odor, according to police.
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While some of the Dutch pleaded for a foul, Gakpo raced in to score on the rebound.
Adjective
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French broadcaster French Pierron was under fire for calling childbirth 'a disgusting moment.
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How to make the moment scary but watchable, disgusting but entrancing?
Adjective
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Margera tried to soothe the pain by submerging his fresh brand in a tub of filthy farm water, which resulted in a life-threatening staph infection that landed him in the hospital.
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Outside the Lineage warehouse Thursday morning, the smell of heavy smoke was already being replaced with that of spoiling food and filthy water.
Adjective
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The bleak tortures Ohm concocts for his characters are as vile as the Bilberry’s fetid jacuzzi.
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The evolutionary advantage of fetid roses was that their odor deterred animal herds that grazed in their habitat.
Cite this Entry
“Smelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smelly. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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