mephitic

[muh-fit-ik]

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adjective

offensive to the smell.

noxious; pestilential; poisonous.

Origin of mephitic

From the Late Latin word mephīticus, dating back to 1615–25. See mephitis, -ic

Related formsme·phit·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mephitic

foul, offensive, poisonous, smelly, stinking

Examples from the Web for mephitic

Historical Examples of mephitic

The insect braves with impunity the strongest odours and mephitic miasmas.
The Insect
Jules Michelet
Was the embryo ripe, that the womb had become its mephitic prison?
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II)
Henry Osborn Taylor
The warm, sluggish air lay about him, mephitic in its touch.
Carmen Ariza
Charles Francis Stocking
But the heat and mephitic vapors of his native isle revenged him.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte
William Milligan Sloane
Its mephitic influence in society is too palpable to be overlooked.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 (of 6)
Havelock Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for mephitic

mephitic

mephitical

adjective

poisonous; foul

foul-smelling; putrid

Derived Formsmephitically, adverb

Word Origin for mephitic

C17: from Late Latin mephīticus pestilential

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 mephitic

adj.

1620s, "of poisonous smell," from Late Latin mephiticus, from Latin mephitis, mefitis "noxious vapor" (also personified as a goddess believed to have the power to avert it).

mephitic in Medicine

mephitic

[mə-fĭt′ĭk]

adj.

Having a foul odor; foul-smelling.