Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to get a noseful

to get a noseful

8.7
Smell something very strongly, often in an unpleasant way
  • idiom
translation icon : oler intensamente
  • Oh no, I got a noseful of that smelly sock!

Examples

  • He got a noseful of perfume when he stepped into the elevator.

  • As soon as I opened the fridge, I got a noseful of spoiled milk.

  • Walking past the bakery, she got a noseful of freshly baked bread.

  • Did you get a noseful of that fishy odor?

  • He got a noseful of the rotten food left in the fridge.

  • When he walked by the fish market, he got a noseful of the unpleasant smell.

  • She couldn't help but get a noseful of the strong perfume when she entered the store.

Synonyms

to smell
vsto get a noseful
∞ 1.0

To notice a scent with your nose

is an intense, often unpleasant experience rather than neutral perception
to sniff
vsto get a noseful
266 1.0

To breathe in through the nose to smell something or because of a cold

is a much stronger, often unpleasant smell taken in forcefully
to get a whiff
vsto get a noseful
11 4.7

Smell something briefly, often a strong scent

smell something much more strongly and for longer, often unpleasant
to snuff
vsto get a noseful
  • Archaic
3 7.9

To smell something quickly to see what it is

is a stronger, more intense inhalation that often feels unpleasant

How Strong

to get a noseful
8.7
to smell
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

get a noseful infinitive

Morphology

get + a + noseful

The phrase is directly compositional: 'noseful' can be parsed as 'nose' + '-ful' (an amount that fills the nose) and 'get' = receive/experience, so the overall sense of receiving a strong smell is predictable from the parts. This simple image-based composition follows regular English word-formation and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent elements.

Etymology

The idiom get a noseful comes from the picture of a smell filling your nose all at once, like opening a bin and the bad smell rushing in. So it means 'to smell something very strongly', often in an unpleasant way.