Synonym Chooser

How is the word fetid distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of fetid are fusty, malodorous, musty, noisome, putrid, rank, and stinking. While all these words mean "bad-smelling," stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

prisoners were held in stinking cells
the fetid odor of skunk cabbage

How are the words fusty and musty related as synonyms of fetid?

Both fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.

a fusty attic
the musty odor of a damp cellar

When would malodorous be a good substitute for fetid?

Although the words malodorous and fetid have much in common, malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

Where would noisome be a reasonable alternative to fetid?

The meanings of noisome and fetid largely overlap; however, noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

When can putrid be used instead of fetid?

While the synonyms putrid and fetid are close in meaning, putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter.

the putrid smell of rotting fish

When could rank be used to replace fetid?

In some situations, the words rank and fetid are roughly equivalent. However, rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fetid The stumps of dead Joshua trees jutted from the fetid ground cover, while a few others, still alive, appeared anemic and were adorned in wispy strands of plastic debris and dust. Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025 Not so happy are people trying to swim around the stuff or breathing in the fetid aroma of drying mounds of sargassum. Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 9 May 2025 Only one of them has a fetish for the fetid stink of porta potties, but the other one has their weird kinks too. David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 28 Jan. 2025 During the previous effort, squalid and fetid camps grew on the border and were marred by gang violence. Colleen Long, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fetid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fetid
Adjective
  • This is about a team with a top-10 payroll whose GM committed too stinking much of it to dogs that can’t, or won’t, pull the sled.
    Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2019
  • Muttaiah said the man inside the stinking manhole was working without any safety equipment — no gloves, no shoes, no supplemental oxygen.
    Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
Adjective
  • Cox sold the Statesman but retained ownership of its 18.9-acre site, a property many developers had long coveted and said was ripe for new development.
    Shonda Novak, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025
  • The tomato was ripe, the onion slices added bite and the tuft of alfalfa sprouts was fresh and earthy.
    Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 29 July 2025
Adjective
  • Callery pear and Bradford pear trees are considered malodorous, according to the Spruce, a home and garden site.
    Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
  • Rue was considered the most malodorous of all herbs, was even thought to keep away evil spirits, and was spread on church floors for this purpose.
    Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • The foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul penalty 2, resulting in an automatic ejection for Banks.
    Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 21 July 2025
  • The other is a red panda named Bad Rudi with a penchant for foul language.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 16 July 2025
Adjective
  • The smelly, hairy animals with terrible eyesight are actually a type of mammal known as a collared peccary.
    Shelby Slade, AZCentral.com, 24 July 2025
  • Words for different smells, or things that are smelly.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
Adjective
  • This disgusting breach of civil rights against students will not stand.
    Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 July 2025
  • There are explosions, too, and lots of NSFW supe antics, like one unidentified supe hacking up a disgusting ball of...something from her throat that splatters on Kimiko's cheek.
    EW.com, EW.com, 26 July 2025
Adjective
  • Indeed, the trio looked filthy, and one even had a red, watery eye.
    Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025
  • Sharp has long been one of New York’s filthiest comedians.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • Having gone in the tank for Griffin, North Carolina’s highest courts are a noisome example of why partisanship ought to have no place in judicial selection.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 May 2025
  • To question the sincerity of the president’s rhetoric—and that of his party—is not to dismiss the challenge posed by the various noisome currents of antidemocratic sentiment and behavior running through our politics like the effluence of overflowing sewers.
    Gerard Baker, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2022

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Cite this Entry

“Fetid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fetid. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

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