odour
/ˈəʊdə
/(US odor)
noun
1A distinctive smell, especially an unpleasant one: the odour of cigarette smoke...
- He could smell the familiar odour of rotting foliage in his nostrils.
- During that time, the officer had smelled the odour of alcohol on the accused's breath.
- Only when the deity smells the odour of sacrifice rightly made does he respond.
Synonyms
smell, scent, aroma, perfume, fragrance, bouquet, savour, nose, tang, essence, redolence;
stench, stink, reek, fetor, malodour, miasma
British informal pong, whiff, niff, hum
Scottish informal guff
North American informal funk
rare mephitis
2A lingering quality or impression attaching to something: an odour of suspicion...
- It's a bit of an art, because you have to ensure a silent evacuation and a quick disassociation from any lingering odours.
- The place still had an aura, and an odor, of corrupt bureaucrats and their intellectual lackeys about it.
- Judging by auras and odors, the woman and one man were witches.
Synonyms
atmosphere, air, aura, quality, spirit, flavour, savour, emanation, hint, suggestion, impression, whiff, ambience, tone
2.1 [mass noun, with adjective] The state of being held in a specified regard: a decade of bad odour between Britain and the European Community...
- Let us begin by asking how it came about that the tradition fell into bad odor among us.
Phrases
be in good (or bad) odour with
odour of sanctity
Origin
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, from Latin odor 'smell, scent'.
Today an odour (from Latin odor) tends to be an unpleasant smell, but in medieval times it was a sweet smell or perfume. This gives us the expression odour of sanctity for a state of holiness—a sweet scent was supposedly given off by the bodies of saints when they were at or near death. To be in good odour (or in bad odour) with someone is to be in (or out of) favour with them, a use that has been around since the end of the 17th century.