foul odor
Nose-wrinkling reek
A foul odor is an intensely unpleasant smell—the stench of rotting garbage, sewage, or decay.
The phrase emphasizes that the smell is not merely bad but offensively so: A foul odor emanated from the basement.
Foul odors often signal something wrong—spoiled food, contamination, or biological breakdown.
- stenchPowerfully offensive odor
- fetidHaving foul odor
- putridDecomposed and foul-smelling
- rancidDecomposed fat's quality
- malodorousHaving a bad smell
musty · garbage · garbage dump · air pollution · carrion · dead animal · acrid · reek · bad breath · locker room · decay · nauseating · mold · sewage · sewer gas · contamination · fetor · putrescence
olfactory pleasantness
foul odorfragrance
Pleasing olfactory quality
sweet smell · perfume · bouquet · fresh scent · floral scent