Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Offensive to the point of arousing disgust; foul.
- adjective Harmful or dangerous.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Hurtful; mischievous; noxious: as, a noisome pestilence.
- Offensive to sight or smell, especially to the latter; producing loathing or disgust; disgusting; specifically, ill-smelling.
- Disagreeable, in a general sense; extremely offensive.
- Synonyms Pernicious, etc. See noxious.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive.
- adjective Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting; fetid.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Morally
hurtful ornoxious . - adjective Hurtful or noxious to health;
unwholesome ,insalubrious . - adjective Offensive to the senses;
disgusting ,unpleasant ,nauseous ;foul ,fetid , especially having an undesirablesmell ;sickening ,nauseating .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective offensively malodorous
- adjective causing or able to cause nausea
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Madden disappeared and presently his "noisome" snores filled the air.
Dear Carl Ginny Woods 2010
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The fact clearly was that the wretched sewage of Washington, in those days, which was betrayed in all parts of the hotel by every kind of noisome odor, had at last begun to do its work.
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The floor of the cellar was a kind of noisome cesspool: one slipped on the greasy mud -- floundered about in it: for all that, this cellar was almost entirely filled with cases of all kinds, with queer-looking bundles, with objects of various shapes and sizes.
Messengers of Evil Being a Further Account of the Lures and Devices of Fantômas Pierre Souvestre 1894
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With friends like the IRA and a disciplinary system that includes throwing snakes and tarantulas into the beds of women hostages, including Mlle Betancourt, who dared to try to escape, Farc represents the kind of noisome infestation that public benefactors such as General Pinochet used to sanitise so effectively.
Telegraph Blogs 2009
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Like them, I'm delighted that Bobby Quinn remembers that the word "noisome" exists.
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In the late seventeenth century, however, park in English referred to a different kind of enclosure, one catering to humans who sought respite from the noisome distractions of city life.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
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In the late seventeenth century, however, park in English referred to a different kind of enclosure, one catering to humans who sought respite from the noisome distractions of city life.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
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Morrell told them what a noisome stews the place was, insulted the
Chapter 20 2010
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I looked upon all these creatures as rank and noisome growths that must be hewn out of my path, out of the world.
Chapter 11 2010
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With each noisome compartment entered, each scuffed door opened, my depression grew.
arby commented on the word noisome
ADJECTIVE: Having an unpleasant odor: fetid, foul, foul-smelling, malodorous, mephitic, reeky, stinking. Informal: smelly.
July 18, 2007
bilby commented on the word noisome
"COMINIUS: I offer'd to awaken his regard
For's private friends: his answer to me was,
He could not stay to pick them in a pile
Of noisome musty chaff..."
- William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Coriolanus'.
August 29, 2009
Gammerstang commented on the word noisome
(adjective) - At present, offensive and moving disgust; but once, noxious and actually hurtful. Thus, a skunk would be noisome now, a tiger was noisome then. --Richard Chenevix Trench's Select Glossary, 1859
April 22, 2018