Meanings
plural smellfunguses · plural smellfungi
- archaicA faultfinder, complainer, grumbler.
Nor is she a smellfungus searching for weeds where roses grow, or setting down everything a wilderness from Braga to Barcelona.
1847, “Journal of a few Months' Residence in Portugal, and Glimpses of the South of Spain”, in Quarterly Review, volume LXXXI, number CLXI, page 881 more example
But this want of a softening medium, and consequently, of aerial perspective, is not the defect of the Rhine scenery in particular, but of river views in general. And then it is so rich in equivalents—so strong in picture; a true Smellfungus would exclaim, “Yes; but the pictures are all alike.”
1834, Mary Boddington, Slight reminiscences of the Rhine, Switzerland, and a corner of Italy, volume I, page 81Synonyms: bellyacher, carper, castigator, caviler, censurer, complainer, crabber, critic
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA faultfinder, complainer, grumbler.
Origin
From Smelfungus, name of a hypercritical traveller in A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, a satirical characterization of Tobias Smollett and his Travels Through France and Italy (1766). Apparently from smell + fungus.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
smellfungus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellfungus
“smellfungus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellfungus. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smellfungus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellfungus.
Source: smellfungus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.