Word Wise

This weeks word:


noisome (noi·some)
adj.
1. Offensive to the point of arousing disgust; foul: a noisome odor.
2. Harmful or dangerous: noisome fumes.

Word Origin & History:
1382, "harmful, noxious," from noye "harm, misfortune," shortenedform of anoi "annoyance" (from O.Fr. anoier, see annoy) + -some .Meaning "bad-smelling" first recorded 1577.

SYNONYMS:
disgusting, vile, repulsive, offensive, foul, stinking, smelly, reeking, noxious, fetid, putrid, malodorous, mephitic, niffy (Brit. slang) Noisome vapours arise from the mud left in the docks.


ANTONYMS:

good, just, moral, upright, inoffensive

References in classic literature:


Within that noisome den from which I had emerged I had thought with a narrow intensity only of our immediate security.
~The War Of The Worlds by Wells, H.G.

As the light sank into the noisome depths, there came a shriek which chilled Adam's blood--a prolonged agony of pain and terror which seemed to have no end.
~The Lair of the White Worm by Stoker, Bram

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Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The Free Dictionary.com June 14,2011
<"http://www.thefreedictionary.com/noisome">
Thesaurus.com June 14, 2011
<http://thesaurus.com/browse/noisome>
"noisome." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 14 Jun. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/noisome>.