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malodorous

[mal-oh-der-uh s]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR malodorous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having an unpleasant or offensive odor; smelling bad: a malodorous swamp.

RELATED WORDS

bad, decayed, fetid, foul, frowzy, funky, gamy, high, infested, lousy, mephitic, musty, nasty, nauseating, noisome, noxious, off, offensive, poisonous, putrid

Origin of malodorous

First recorded in 1840–50; mal- + odorous
Related formsmal·o·dor·ous·ly, adverbmal·o·dor·ous·ness, noun
Can be confusedmalodorous odious odoriferous odorous smelly stinky
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for malodorous

Historical Examples of malodorous

  • He embraced his daughter, and then again Pierre, and kissed him with his malodorous mouth.

    War and Peace

    Leo Tolstoy

  • But what was Milton doing in this malodorous and noisy assembly?

    Milton

    Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh

  • He saw the squalid tract of her vice, miserable and malodorous.

    Dubliners

    James Joyce

  • It has become a byword among the people as a malodorous cesspool.

  • He rose, went to the window, and cast forth the malodorous thing.

    Stover at Yale

    Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for malodorous

malodorous

adjective

having a bad smell
Derived Formsmalodorously, adverbmalodorousness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for malodorous
adj.

1832, from mal- "bad" + odorous. Related: Malodorously; malodorousness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper