graveolent

/ ˈɡrævɪələnt /

adjective

1. (of plants) having a strong fetid smell

Word History and Origins

Origin of graveolent¹

C17: from Latin gravis heavy + olēre to smell

Example Sentences

Graveolent, grav′ē-o-lent, adj. giving forth an offensive smell.—n.

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This graveolent evil is the pest of soiled newspapers—journals of ill savour—not imparted by any fetid sort of printers' ink, but by vile advertisements, whereat the physical nostrils, indeed, are not offended: but the moral nose is in great indignation.

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Now I was getting tired, and bored with the whole business, and stifled with the close atmosphere—laden with every graveolent horror; besides, I had not escaped from London "chaff" and Parisian persiflage, to be mocked by a wild Virginian.

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Amongst the minor pests are the nkran, or 'driver,' the ahoho, a highly-savoured red ant, and the hahinni, a large black formica terribly graveolent; flies like the tzetze, centipedes, scorpions, and venomous spiders, which make men 'writhe like cut worms.'

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The stratum of the earth is black and pitchy, and the springs beneath it are of a dark and graveolent water.

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Related Words

• musty 
• noxious 
• putrid