ill-scented

adjective

Having a bad, foul, or unpleasant odor.

Meanings

adjectiveill-scented (comparative more ill-scented, superlative most ill-scented)

comparative more ill-scented · superlative most ill-scented

  1. datedbiologyHaving a bad, foul, or unpleasant odor.

    When fresh they are ill-scented and nauseating, but later they are not so disagreeable.

    1889, United States, Division of Botany, Section of Plant Pathology, Section of Vegetable Pathology, “Potato Family (Solanaceae)”, in Department Of Agriculture, Botanical Division, Bulletin No. 10, page 50
    2 more examples

    By an accurate dissection, which was made by Dr. Mitchell, it has been found, that this ill-scented fluid is entirely distinct from the urine.

    1807, James Mease, M.D., A Geological Account of the United States, Comprehending a Short Description of Their Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Productions, Antiquities and Curiosities, page 322

    Much-branched and ill-scented annual, leafy up to the subsessile or short-pedunculate small heads:

    1885, John Merle Coulter, Manual of the Botany (Phænogamia and Pteridophyta) of the Rocky Mountain Region From New Mexico to the British Boundary, page 197

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveoffensively malodorous

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

ill-scented. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-scented

MLA

“ill-scented.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-scented. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ill-scented,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-scented.

Source: ill-scented on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.