Meanings
smellie1
Smellie2
- A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
Once Robert Smellie found her in a ruinous kirk on the Lang Muir, where of old the idolatrous rites of Rome were practiced.
1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide1 more example
Poor Mhairi Smellie. Her first name, a Scots Gaelic name, was pronounced "vary", which sounded close to very. The name Smellie was common enough in Scotland, but to be called something which sounded like "very smelly" was a singular misfortune, and indicative, surely, of a lack of parental foresight.
2010, Alexander McCall Smith, The Importance of Being Seven, Polygon, →ISBN, page 13
Origin
From smell + -ie. Compare talkie.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
smellie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellie
“smellie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellie. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smellie,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smellie.
Source: smellie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.