odiferous

/əʊˈdɪfəɹəs/

//əʊˈdɪfəɹəs// adj

"odiferous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“odiferous” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Odoriferous; smelly

Corpus desk

Index EN-odiferous · odiferous · English

odiferous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for odiferous
PropertyValue
Headwordodiferous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əʊˈdɪfəɹəs/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “odiferous” in English

odiferousfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

odiferous is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əʊˈdɪfəɹəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Odoriferous; smelly".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for odiferous, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Shortened from odoriferous. The correct English form is odiferous, spelled O-D-I-F-E-R-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Odoriferous; smelly

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how odiferous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Smith had Miss Martin's hand. Speeding up one two three flights. Making one abrupt detour on the fourth. Where Smith pulled open a door just off the landing. "Into this mop closet, Miss Martin, fast." Feet outside the mop closet. Feet moving off again. Sounds like four pairs. Or five. Some of the rags in here are odiferous.
  2. Emanating from 300 cheeses of 11 European countries, it quite overwhelms the odiferous tramp of American tourists, intent on completing their Burberried English look by tucking a Stilton under each arm; […]

Etymology

Shortened from odoriferous.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "odiferous"?
"odiferous" is spelled O-D-I-F-E-R-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /əʊˈdɪfəɹəs/.
What does "odiferous" mean?
As an adjective, "odiferous" means: Odoriferous; smelly
How do you pronounce "odiferous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "odiferous" is /əʊˈdɪfəɹəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "odiferous"?
Shortened from odoriferous. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list