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noisome - 4 dictionary results

noi⋅some

  [noi-suhm]
Use noisome in a Sentence
–adjective
1. offensive or disgusting, as an odor.
2. harmful or injurious to health; noxious.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME noy (aph. var. of annoy ) + -some 1

Related forms:
noi⋅some⋅ly, adverb
noi⋅some⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. fetid, putrid, rotten, stinking, mephitic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To noisome
noi·some   (noi'səm)   
adj.  
  1. Offensive to the point of arousing disgust; foul: a noisome odor.
  2. Harmful or dangerous: noisome fumes.

[Middle English noiesom : noie, harm (short for anoi, annoyance, from Old French, from anoier, to annoy; see annoy) + -som, adj. suff.; see -some1.]
noi'some·ly adv., noi'some·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Noisome

Noi"some\, a. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]

1. Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. "Noisome pestilence." --Ps. xci. 3.

2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting; fetid. "Foul breath is noisome." --Shak. -- Noi"some*ly, adv. -- Noi"some*ness, n.

Syn: Noxious; unwholesome; insalubrious; mischievous; destructive.

Usage: Noisome, Noxious. These words have to a great extent been interchanged; but there is a tendency to make a distinction between them, applying noxious to things that inflict evil directly; as, a noxious plant, noxious practices, etc., and noisome to things that operate with a remoter influence; as, noisome vapors, a noisome pestilence, etc. Noisome has the additional sense of disqusting. A garden may be free from noxious weeds or animals; but, if recently covered with manure, it may be filled with a noisome smell.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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noisome 
1382, "harmful, noxious," from noye "harm, misfortune," shortened form of anoi "annoyance" (from O.Fr. anoier, see annoy) + -some. Meaning "bad-smelling" first recorded 1577.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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