[mal.odor.ous] adj (1850) 1: having a bad odor
2: highly improper "~ practices and chicanery in high financial places --New Republic" -- mal.odor.ous.ly adv -- mal.odor.ous.ness n syn malodorous, stinking, fetid, noisome, putrid, rank, fusty, musty mean bad-smelling. malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive "malodorous fertilizers". stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting "prisoners were held in stinking cells" "the fetid odor of skunk cabbage". noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive "a stagnant, noisome sewer". putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter "the putrid smell of rotting fish". rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell "rank cigar smoke". 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".