Etymologically
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smelly

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Pronunciation

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

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