fetid
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fetid
1590–1600; < Latin fētidus, equivalent to fēt- (stem of fētēre to stink) + -idus -id 4
Explanation
If you want to understand the true meaning of fetid, leave your sweaty gym clothes in your locker for a few days. Fetid is a fancy way of saying that something smells really bad. From the Latin word meaning "stinking," this adjective has been in use since the early 15th century, which was a particularly fetid time in history — showers, laundry detergent, and deodorant had not yet been invented. Here's an easy way to remember it: "the fe(e)t (d)id stink." It's sometimes spelled foetid.
Vocabulary lists containing fetid
The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A fetid stench remained in the neighborhood, and several residents reported feeling nausea and itchy throats and eyes weeks after the fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Then he got in another brawl, was imprisoned in Fort St. Angelo, escaped, and was formally expelled by the Order—the recorded language is “like a rotten and fetid limb.”
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026
Human waste spilled out of the overflowing communal latrines near Nyariaka’s house and into the fetid water filling the culverts.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025
The optimist notes that Baltimore’s division, the AFC North, is in a fetid state at the moment, with Aaron Rodgers and the strangely 3-1 Steelers coasting over the moribund Ravens, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
So we walked behind the store and sat by the stinking, fetid Dumpster.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
