musky
1 Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of musky1
First recorded in 1600–10; musk + -y 1
Origin of musky2
Explanation
A musky smell might make you close your eyes and smile, or it might make you leave a room. Either way, it’s a very strong and sweet odor that's hard to ignore. Musk is a scent that deer secrete to convince a mate to cuddle with them, and so a musky odor often does the same for humans. But not always! A woman wearing musky perfume might inspire you to ask her on a date, but sometimes rotting fruit smells musky as well. Hard to know whether smelling musky is a good or bad thing. If you can’t decide, just go scent-free.
Vocabulary lists containing musky
The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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This Week in Words: April 13–19, 2019
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The Wild Robot Escapes
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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.
See Examples For:
The goat was "nasty and mean", smelled "disgusting, musky, rancid", and would chase her young children, knocking them down.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2024
What outrageous crimes did the goat, whom she described as “disgusting, musky, rancid,” commit other than needing a bath?
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2024
The plant uses a musky odor to lure fungus gnats that usually feed and lay their eggs on mushrooms into their cup-shaped flowers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2024
“It’s a very distinctive smell, castoreum … it’s kind of musky, but sweet,” says Campbell-Palmer.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 15, 2023
But then there it was, invariably, the little green bottle of musky potion that Joe also used, ready for him on my mother’s dresser.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
It also raises bass, walleye, catfish, bluegills and tiger muskies.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2023
But only artificial lures are allowed, except for anglers targeting northern pike or muskies, who can use sucker minnows longer than 8 inches.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 5, 2017
Many anglers believe the record has been broken several times by muskies that were caught and released. ???initialComments:true! pubdate:07/17/2011 18:06 EDT! commentPeriod:3! commentEndDate:7/20/11 6:6 EDT! currentDate:7/17/11 6:30 EDT! allowComments:true! displayComments:false!
From Washington Post ● Jul. 17, 2011
I knew then that muskies would be part of my life.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2010
The final edition had been put to bed, the wires were quiet, and as he sat there Farriss was thinking of plunging "muskies" in Maine streams.
From The Strange Case of Cavendish by Parrish, Randall
Other nocturnal blossoms deploy scents like siren calls: The creamy whorls of the moonflower vine hint at vanilla and sunscreen, while the heavy bells of brugmansia are franker and muskier in aura, verging on narcotic.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2021
When a coach invokes “swagger,” the muskiest and most meaningless of intangibles, it means one of two things.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2010
Mainly inhabited by Puerto Ricans, with a peppering of Cubans, Spaniards, Filipinos, Mexicans, it is one of the poorest, noisiest, brightest, muskiest, most musical and least written-about foreign quarters in Manhattan.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions 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.
