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mephitic

adjective/mɪˈfɪtɪk/

C2CEFR level
93/100Rarity: very rare
LiteraryRegister

Foul-smelling, especially of noxious or poisonous vapours.

A mephitic reek rose from the stagnant marsh as we waded through.

Similar: fetid, noxious, malodorous

Origin: From Latin mephitis 'noxious exhalation'.

Topic: smell in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: smell