smelly
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of smelly
Explanation
Smelly things give off a bad odor. After her joyful swim in a swampy lake, your dog will probably be smelly. You could call smelly things stinky, putrid, or rank. Your brother's sweaty feet are smelly, and your neighbor's cabbage soup is smelly too. While things like flowers and homemade gingerbread are fragrant or aromatic, smelly things — like your neighborhood on garbage day — are just plain smelly. We know that smelly comes from smell, "odor, aroma, or stench," which followed the verb smell, "emit or perceive an odor," but the word's origin is unknown.
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.
"The world to a lot of us is very loud, very noisy, very crowded, very bright, very smelly, and it's exhausting suppressing your response to all of this and carrying on."
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2026
Many couples say their marriage hinges on one party coming around to their spouse’s feline friends, which can mean dealing with severe rashes, smelly litter boxes and early wakeups.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026
“It’ll certainly be smelly and noxious, and bacteria and things are going to be growing in it,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2026
Trees have less dramatic ways to screw up your day: Their roots can infiltrate cracks in septic or sewage pipes, blocking the system and wreaking expensive, smelly havoc.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
She wore a girdle of smelly rabbit skins.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
