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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
  • 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
  • Garbage cans can be smelly and gross, but flies love them thanks to their rotting food and stinky smells.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of stinky
Adjective
  • To a novice taster, sipping out of a plastic Mets carafe, the wine smelled like dry grass and very ripe blackberries.
    — Arthur Holland Michel, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Remove ripe or overripe fruit from your kitchen as quickly as possible by eating, refrigerating, freezing, or composting it.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Sep. 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
  • The bodies were discovered days later after a neighbor noticed a foul odor coming from the home.
    — Sergio Candido, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • In June, a fire east of downtown in a massive frozen-food warehouse left neighbors to endure weeks of foul smells and frustration.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of foul
Adjective
  • The better to act out empire’s idea of what disgusting demonic sickness looks like.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
  • These guys are disgusting over the radio in the heat of battle.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • Raman has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for filthy streets, gridlock and an unresponsive City Hall.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Jurors heard testimony from three of Alsheikh’s victims who said they were packed into small, filthy, cold, wet cells that were infested with insects and other vermin.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 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 2 Oct. 2026.

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