Word of the Day Archive
Friday December 8, 2000
fetid \FET-id; FEE-tid\ , adjective:
Having an offensive smell; stinking.
The air was fetid, heavy as the breath of a large animal.
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Bad Dreams
He grew up between the river and the vineyard-covered slopes, between the fetid smell of the tannery and the fine aroma of crushed grapes.
-- Patrice Debré, Louis Pasteur (translated by Elborg Forster)
Fetid derives from Latin fetidus, from fetere, "to stink."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for fetid
