variants
or chiefly British smelt
1
2
as in sensed
to have a vague awareness of
I smell something fishy about this situation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smelled
Smokers who smelled a mix of cigarettes and rotting fish overnight subsequently reduced their cigarette consumption by more than thirty per cent—more than people who smelled the pairing while awake.
—
Shayla Love, New Yorker, 1 May 2026
Matamala had smelled smoke in the air in the early evening; within five hours, flames had reached the house.
—Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
These blooms are loved by babies, smelled by furry friends and bring out suburban neighbors to the city, including Kathy Cooper from Hopkins.
—Marielle Mohs, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
She was reported to have been back at work the next day in clothes that smelled of smoke.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 25 Apr. 2026
Take that time at the 2021 Academy Awards when a reporter asked her what Brad Pitt smelled like.
—Regina Kim, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2026
Water began pouring into David Tahara’s North Park home Tuesday night around midnight, thanks to a late-breaking rainfall and a basement storm drain that smelled of sewage at certain points.
—Christiana Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
The house still smelled of timber, paint, concrete dust.
—Kate Crane, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2026
Negotiations with the United States picked back up after the Civil War, and Seward, a proponent of American expansion, smelled a bargain.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026
Shayla Love, New Yorker, 1 May 2026
Matamala had smelled smoke in the air in the early evening; within five hours, flames had reached the house.
—Stefano Pozzebon, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
These blooms are loved by babies, smelled by furry friends and bring out suburban neighbors to the city, including Kathy Cooper from Hopkins.
—Marielle Mohs, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
She was reported to have been back at work the next day in clothes that smelled of smoke.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 25 Apr. 2026
Take that time at the 2021 Academy Awards when a reporter asked her what Brad Pitt smelled like.
—Regina Kim, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2026
Water began pouring into David Tahara’s North Park home Tuesday night around midnight, thanks to a late-breaking rainfall and a basement storm drain that smelled of sewage at certain points.
—Christiana Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
The house still smelled of timber, paint, concrete dust.
—Kate Crane, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2026
Negotiations with the United States picked back up after the Civil War, and Seward, a proponent of American expansion, smelled a bargain.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smelled
Verb
-
Jokic has never sniffed an All-Defensive Team as a center.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
-
But none of that seemed to matter because the Mets went on to lose that game, 7-1, and haven't sniffed a victory since.—
Jeff Capellini,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Makris and his co-author, Cadine Navarro, want to further investigate whether other environmental cues, such as wind, could be sensed by plants in similar ways.—
K. R. Callaway,
Scientific American,
22 Apr. 2026
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And some understood it more self-consciously and articulately than others, but most people sort of sensed it.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Any passengers not knocked out during the chaos or sucked out into the sky are generally screaming and grabbing for oxygen masks while Captain Rich makes a futile announcement about the importance of not panicking.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Being pulled away from her child felt like the air was being sucked out of her lungs.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
These compounds can be immediately fatal if inhaled.—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
23 Apr. 2026
-
This product can turn into a big irritant if ingested or inhaled, and cause several digestive or respiratory issues.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But most states have already held primaries for 2026 so the high court's decision is likely to be felt more in the 2028 presidential contest or in 2031, after the next Census.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
What once felt like an opportunity to close has become something closer to a necessity.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Moving a blade back and forth to try to saw biscuits apart will make their layers stick (and ruin the rise).—
Ella Quittner,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Ruggeri says that, in comparison to saw palmetto, which gets far more attention.—
Adam Hurly,
Robb Report,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The two men were too far away to be heard by reporters, and television cameras did not pick up the audio.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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North Carolina has more than its share of mythical creatures – from the Beast of Bladenboro to the Wampus Cat – so people pay attention when bizarre screams are heard in the night.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Cook noticed that all of the lead characters could be said to have conflicting desires, which gave her idea of how to stage the show using the traditional singing/signing model.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Their disappearance was not noticed for several hours and touched off a massive manhunt.—
Meredith Deliso,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smelled. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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