odorous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of odorous
First recorded in 1540–50, odorous is from the Latin word odōrus “fragrant.” See odor, -ous
Explanation
Anything that has a strong scent can be described as odorous. Usually if you say something is odorous you mean that it smells unpleasant — like an odorous blue cheese made from unpasteurized milk. The adjective odorous comes from the Latin odorus, meaning “fragrant.” Typically, you wouldn’t say, “those roses you sent me are so odorous!” Although that comment could be literally correct, the implication would be insulting to the giver of said roses. More common uses of odorous might include: odorous gym mats, odorous garbage can, odorous gas fumes — you get the picture. Or rather the stench.
Vocabulary lists containing odorous
Dubliners
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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The Wind in the Willows
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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.
One of his recurring subjects was meat, from flayed rabbits to rayfish, with odorous side effects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
These hazardous spills have formed bubbling ponds and “ultimately rivers of odorous waste,” according to officials with the SCAQMD.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
The incandescent bulb’s bright light replaced the dim and often odorous illumination of oil and gas lamps that brought the risk of fire and, in the case of gas, of suffocation and explosions.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
There, a chance encounter with an older member of the community, who remembered the researchers who first described the species decades prior, led them to a particularly odorous subterranean cave.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2021
The air temperature in the building had soared beyond ninety degrees, and the place had turned steamy, odorous, alive with monkey calls.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
