bilgy

9.9

A strong, unpleasant smell like dirty water at the bottom of a ship

adjective
/ˈbɪl.dʒi/

: hediondo

They opened the hatch to a rush of bilgy air, making everyone cough.

Examples

The inside of the abandoned boat was bilgy and stank of decay.
The storage room had grown bilgy after years of neglect and leaking pipes.
That smell is bilgy.
Don't go near that bilgy section of the dock!
The inside of the abandoned boat was bilgy and stank of decay.
The storage room had grown bilgy after years of neglect and leaking pipes.
They opened the hatch to a rush of bilgy air, making everyone cough.

Synonyms

smelly

vsbilgy

93 1.0

Giving off a strong, unpleasant stink

is more specific and evokes a stagnant bottom of ship smell

foul-smelling

vsbilgy

9 4.1

A very strong stink that makes you want to move away

evokes a stagnant bottom of ship smell rather than just intensity

odiferous

vsbilgy

1 8.5

Having a strong smell that is often unpleasant

focuses on a foul stagnant smell like the bottom of a ship

ill-smelling

vsbilgy

1 4.4

That has a strong, unpleasant odor

is more vivid and suggests a stagnant sea or ship bottom odor

niffy

vsbilgy

9.9

Smelling strongly of something unpleasant

is used for a stagnant bottom of ship smell rather than casual nastiness

Antonyms

fresh

241 1.0

Clean air or water that has no harmful things

fragrant

31 2.2

Having a pleasant smell like flowers or soap

How Smelly

putrid

13 7.0

bilgy

9.9

musty

25 3.9

fresh

241 1.0

odorless

11 3.0

Surface Forms

bilgy positive

Morphology

bilgy = bilge (transparent) = bilge + y

Formed by the regular adjective-making suffix '-y' added to 'bilge', so the meaning 'smelling of bilge' follows directly from the base.

Etymology

Bilgy comes from bilge, the 'bottom of a ship' where dirty water gathers and often smells bad. So something bilgy smells bad and stale, like that standing ship water.