to have a bad smell► smelly · The hut was dark and smelly.· Don't leave your smelly sneakers lying around the living room.· The lake was rapidly turning brown and smelly from the factory wastes.
► smell to have an unpleasant smell: · Does my breath smell?· We need to clean the cat's litter box - it's starting to smell.smell bad/awful/terrible/disgusting: · Not only does he smell bad - he's mean and ugly too.· Many people like the taste of jackfruit, but it smells terrible.
► stink to have a strong and unpleasant smell: · Her room is filthy, and it stinks.· How can you eat that cheese? It stinks.stink of: · His clothes stank of cigarette smoke.stink to high heaven: · You boys stink to high heaven - go inside and take a shower.
► reek to have a very strong smell of something unpleasant: · Get that dog out of here - he reeks.reek of: · He came running into the house, reeking of sweat.· The tiny office reeked of onions and cigarette smoke.· Where have you been - you reek of alcohol?
► stinking having a very strong unpleasant smell: · The yards were full of stinking garbage cans, and untidy lines of washing.· He pointed to the stinking hole that we were to use as a toilet.
► stink the place out British /stink the place up American informal to make a whole room smell bad: · You're not bringing that cat in here - it'll stink the place out.· She made fish for dinner and stunk the place up.
► musty things such as books, clothes, or rooms that are musty have a smell that is old and not fresh, especially because they have not been used or been in fresh air for a long time: · The hotel room was dark and musty.· The library was full of musty old books which no one wanted to read.
► stale having a smell that is not fresh, especially because you can still smell something such as old cigarette smoke or old cooking smells: · She noticed the stale smell of drink on his breath.· The air in the office was stale and heavy.· It was cold outside and the smell of stale tobacco clung to their winter coats.
► acrid having a sharp, unpleasant smell, especially one that hurts your nose: · The chemical has an acrid smell.· When I opened the door, acrid white smoke came billowing out.· The air was stale and acrid, and a cluster of black flies hovered over the bed.