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Glite Dictionary
odorous

odorous

1 5.5
Having a smell you can notice
  • adjective
  • /ˈoʊdərəs/
translation icon : odioso
  • The fish and the odorous green gunk they lived in were ready for harvest.
  • odorous air
  • odorous compounds
  • odorous emissions

Hating, not just despising, but hating odorous.

Examples

  • If the biosolids are particularly wet or odorous, they have problems with it.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The panelist must correctly identify the port with the odorous sample for an affirmative response for odor presence to be considered valid.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The air was fresh and odorous with the scent of leaves.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • As it caught, they jumped back, and the smoke began to rise, black and odorous.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Fans that actively pull fresh air into the building were installed to combat the leakage of odorous air.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Reduced sulfur compounds and some of the longer-chain organic acids are very odorous.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The cooled, moistened, but still odorous air leaving the scrubbers is distributed to the base of the biofilters.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The garden was filled with odorous flowers that attracted many bees.

  • The bakery was odorous with the scent of fresh bread and pastries.

  • As we walked through the forest, we could smell the odorous pine trees around us.

Synonyms

pungent
vsodorous
18 4.8

Having a strong, sharp smell or taste that can be unpleasant

is simply noticeable or distinctive without the sharp unpleasant edge
redolent
vsodorous
2 7.6

Having a strong smell of flowers or baking

is neutral and does not imply the smell is pleasant
odoriferous
vsodorous
  • Formal
1 9.3

Giving off a strong, often unpleasant smell you notice quickly

is the neutral everyday term rather than a formal or playful one
odiferous
vsodorous
1 8.5

Having a strong smell that is often unpleasant

is neutral or distinctive without necessarily being unpleasant
strong-smelling
vsodorous
1 3.5

Gives off a strong smell that you notice quickly

is noticeable but not necessarily very powerful
strong-scented
vsodorous
3.7

Having a very strong smell that you notice easily

is more neutral and merely distinctive rather than intensely strong

Antonyms

odorless
  • US
11 3.0

Not having any smell

How Strong

fetid
8 7.9
odoriferous
  • Formal
8.5
odorous
1 5.5
scented
13 2.3
odorless
  • US
11 3.0

Surface Forms

odorous positive

Morphology

odorous = odor (transparent) = odor + ous

Formed by the noun 'odor' (smell) plus the adjectival suffix '-ous' meaning 'having or full of', so the meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Odorous comes from the old Latin word odor meaning 'smell' and the ending -ous meaning 'full of'. So, odorous means 'full of smell', which is why we use it for things that have a clear or strong scent.