niff
/nɪf
/British informal
noun
An unpleasant smell: the horrible fishy niff...
- Top Tip: a few drops of tea tree oil in the bottom prevents nasty niffs.
- Councillors are calling on the Government to get involved in ending a nasty niff pervading Castle Point.
- Council environment chiefs have launched an investigation into the source of the nasty niff.
verb [no object]
Have an unpleasant smell: a dark room that always niffed a bit...
- Instead of niffing of pongy feet, the new hi-tech trainers could smell of lemons or even wild flowers.
- Note, this part after the niffing has not been documented by any of the expert folks as yet for us newbies.
Derivatives
niffy
/ adjective (niffier, niffiest) ...- Because fish can be a bit niffy and you don't want to whiff up your best suit?
- It did get a bit niffy in there so every so often I swapped sides.
- They prefer to live in groups and need frequent cleaning-out because ratties are a bit niffy!
Origin
Early 20th century (originally dialect): perhaps from sniff.