smelly

Etymology

It is formed from English smell + -y,^[2][3][4][5] in Middle English smelli, from smel (“smell, odour”).^[6] The noun is not found in Old English, where the usual word was Old English stenc, the source of stench.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having an odour, perhaps a pleasant one: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus; the Middle English Dictionary thinks it may also be an error for smethe, smooth.^[6] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to late Middle English,^[3] but the OED's first record is from 1862, in H. Marryat's One Year in Sweden,^[2] Merriam-Webster's from 1862^[7] and Etymonline's from 1854.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Shorter Oxford notes that the word first meant simply having an odour, and only later having a strong or unpleasant one.^[3] In its modern use it has always been pejorative, smell itself having meant a stench since the late 14th century.^[4][2] The sense is also used figuratively.^[2] In the 1920s smelly also meant suspicious, a rare slang use that echoes to smell a rat.^[2][8]

Timeline

• before 1398 – having an odour.^[6][3]
• 1854 – having an offensive odour.^[4]
• 1862 – stinking, giving off bad smells; also figurative.^[2][7]
• 1923 – suspicious, dubious (rare).^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a strong or unpleasant smell; malodorous: smelly socks left under the bed.^[9][7][2]
2. (rare, slang) Suspicious or dubious.^[2][3][8]

Word family

• smelliness

Related words

• smell

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins