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yucky smell

yucky smell

5.6
A strong, nasty smell like rotten food that makes you feel sick
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : olor desagradable
  • That yucky smell is coming from the trash can.

Examples

  • The yucky smell of rotten eggs quickly filled the air when the container broke.

  • My little brother complained about the yucky smell in his shoes after soccer practice.

  • There was a yucky smell coming from the kitchen sink this morning.

  • I can't stand the yucky smell of rotten eggs!

  • The garbage began to produce a yucky smell that filled the entire kitchen.

  • After the rain, the yucky smell of wet dog lingered in the air.

  • When the food spoiled in the refrigerator, it created a yucky smell that made me gag.

Synonyms

odor
vsyucky smell
  • US
145 1.9

A strong or noticeable smell, often unpleasant like smoke

is specifically an unpleasant and disgusting smelling experience
stink
vsyucky smell
111 1.1

A very bad smell that people dislike

is a general unpleasant smell rather than naming extreme offensiveness
stench
vsyucky smell
80 3.5

A very bad strong smell that makes you feel sick

is similar but focuses on being unpleasant rather than intensity alone
pungent smell
vsyucky smell
1 3.3

A strong sharp smell that makes your eyes water

is unpleasant smell emphasizing disgust rather than sharpness or bite
foulness
vsyucky smell
1 7.2

A strong, very bad smell from sewage or rotten garbage

is the simple experience of disgusting smell rather than a named state
rankness
vsyucky smell
1 9.0

A very strong bad smell that makes you feel sick

is the general unpleasant smell without stressing harshness or rot
stinkiness
vsyucky smell
1 4.3

A strong unpleasant smell that makes people move away

is the direct sensory impression rather than the abstract condition
fetidness
vsyucky smell
8.4

A very strong unpleasant smell that makes people feel sick

is the plain idea of being unpleasant rather than the quality label
pestilential smell
vsyucky smell
  • Literature
9.4

A very strong bad air that makes you think of rotting things or disease

is unpleasant but not necessarily linked to decay or disease imagery
whiffy odor
vsyucky smell
  • Informal
7.4

A strong, unpleasant smell that people dislike

is the same unpleasant idea but in more neutral wording

Antonyms

83 2.6

A pleasant sweet smell from flowers or perfume

How Smelly

stench
80 3.5
reek
8 6.1
yucky smell
  • Informal
5.6
odor
  • US
145 1.9
smell
605 1.0

Surface Forms

yucky smell singular
yucky smells plural

Morphology

yucky + smell

The meaning 'an unpleasant or disgusting odor' follows directly from combining 'yucky' (distasteful/repulsive) with 'smell' (an odor). This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Yucky smell comes from the childish word yucky, which people say when something makes them say 'yuck', together with smell, the air you notice from something. So, yucky smell means 'an unpleasant or disgusting odor'.