Synonyms for smelly
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Stinky
fetid, malodorous, foul-smelling, stinking, bad, noisome formal, funky, foul, rank, rotten, stinky slang, ill-scented dated, whiffy slang informal
2. Dodgy — having a quality that arouses suspicion
dodgy informal, suspicious, dubious, suspect, doubtful
Definitions
- adj. 1
Having a quality that arouses suspicion.
The detective read the documents and thought, "Something sure is smelly about this case."
- adj. 2
Having a bad smell.
She was hesitant to remove her shoes, as her socks were rather smelly.
Example sentences
- stinking The car is stinking. Have you been sleeping in it?
- fetid The fetid smell came from the dead rat in the corner.
- suspicious A policeman was gazing at a suspicious pedestrian.
- dubious He also brought out one more dubious conclusion.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| smelly | rising | |
| stinking | rising | |
| fetid | rising | |
| malodorous | steady | |
| suspicious | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- rank1, foul1
- 5 letters
- funky2, dodgy, fetid2
- 6 letters
- rotten2, stinky2, whiffy
- 7 letters
- suspect2, dubious3, noisome
- 8 letters
- doubtful2, stinking2
- 10 letters
- suspicious3, malodorous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (funky2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- puant
- Italiano
- puzzolente