| Noisome | 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. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting; fetid. “Foul breath is noisome.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] -- Noi"some*ly, adv. -- Noi"some*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ] Syn. -- Noxious; unwholesome; insalubrious; mischievous; destructive. -- 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. [ 1913 Webster ] |
