mephitic
/ˌmɛˈfɪ.tɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.22 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Foul-smelling or noxious, particularly of a gas or atmosphere.
Example Sentences
- ""I could have borne the sight of his crutch," said she, "but the crutch and the nephew together really oppress me like a mephitic vapour.""
- "It is impossible to convey, in words, any idea of the hideous phantasmagoria of shifting limbs and faces which moved through the evil-smelling twilight of this terrible prison-house. Callot might have drawn it, Dante might have suggested it, but a minute attempt to describe its horrors would but disgust. There are depths in humanity which one cannot explore, as there are mephitic caverns into which one dare not penetrate."
- "From this crawling flapping mass of obscene reptilian life came the shocking clamor which filled the air and the mephitic, horrible, musty odor which turned us sick."
- "More than that, perhaps the worst thing, was a sort of mephitic fog, moistureless and invisible, that came and went like an exhalation of the arid earth itself."
Etymology
From Latin mephīticus, from mephītis; compare French méphitique.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌmɛˈfɪ.tɪk/
- British English: /ˌmɛˈfɪ.tɪk/
Inflected Forms
more mephitic (comparative)
most mephitic (superlative)