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as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body it's no fun having asthma and living in an area with noisome smog

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word noisome distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of noisome are fetid, fusty, malodorous, musty, putrid, rank, and stinking. While all these words mean "bad-smelling," noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

How do fusty and musty relate to one another, in the sense of noisome?

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 could malodorous be used to replace noisome?

The words malodorous and noisome are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

When might putrid be a better fit than noisome?

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

the putrid smell of rotting fish

When is it sensible to use rank instead of noisome?

While in some cases nearly identical to noisome, rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

How are the words stinking and fetid related as synonyms of noisome?

Both stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

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

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 noisome 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 Performers like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who long ago bartered their integrity and believability for money and ratings, can peddle their noisome pro-Trump propaganda on Fox News. Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2022 But Trudeau is using it to get rid of a political headache: the loud, noisome, but nonviolent blockade of bridges in Canada and the downtown of the nation’s capital. Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 16 Feb. 2022 But her water bowl is filled with a noisome black, brackish liquid — what has fouled it, and for how long, is anyone’s guess. Gene Weingarten, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2021 And there were some years where his fame was turned infamous by serious accusations of the most noisome acts. Ashley Cullins, Billboard, 3 May 2021 Auschwitz was his laboratory, offering limitless subjects and unbound by noisome ethical inhibitions. David Margolick, WSJ, 24 Jan. 2020 Farmers agreed to reduce the emissions of the country’s noisome pigs. The Economist, 9 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for noisome
Adjective
  • The poisonous kernels are responsible for a significant number of suicides and homicides, particularly in rural areas of South Asia.
    Nina Foster, JSTOR Daily, 30 May 2025
  • Looking at her computer's search history, investigators found that Patterson looked up a website listing sightings of the poisonous mushroom.
    Britt Clennett, ABC News, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Conrad wraps the conversation by being incredibly disgusting about Bella’s nether regions.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 1 June 2025
  • For the next 200 years, snails only appeared in Parisian cookbooks alongside an apology for including such a disgusting ingredient.
    Garritt C. Van Dyk, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2025
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
  • As explained by Hill's Pet Nutrition, spicy food can be toxic for dogs and can lead to excessive thirst or even vomiting.
    Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
  • The explosion of money in the game in the past few years has made things only more toxic.
    Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • Tech wealth here looks even less appealing than that of the Roy family (the expensively beige décor is even uglier).
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
  • During the negotiation of USMCA in 2018, the current trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that Trump managed during his first term, conversations between the President and GM occasionally turned ugly.
    Jackie Charniga, USA Today, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene slid into foul territory down the left-field line in pursuit of Chase Meidroth’s third-inning fly ball, then disappeared in a cloud of dust.
    Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2025
  • Then, Muncy went deep again, continuing his recent surge by belting another three-run homer high off the right-field foul pole, tying a career-high with seven RBIs on the day.
    Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2025
Adjective
  • The unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.
    Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 30 Jan. 2020
  • However, communities in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains were still experiencing unhealthful air quality, according to the air district.
    Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • But the defense is hoping to cast her recollections merely as sickening details in a deranged love story between two consenting and jealous adults.
    Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 17 May 2025
  • For years, raw sewage from Mexico has poured across the border into Southern California, fouling beaches, sickening residents and sparking diplomatic as well as environmental concerns.
    Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 May 2025

Cite this Entry

“Noisome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/noisome. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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