1. Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as,
noisome effluvia. "Noisome pestilence."
2. Offensive to the
scent or another senses; disgusting; fetid. "Foul
breath is noisome." Noi"somely, Noi"someness.
Synonym: Noxious, unwholesome, insalubrious, mischievous, destructive.
Noisome, Noxious. These words have to a great extent been interchanged;
but there is a
tendency to create 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.
Origin: For noysome, fr. Noy for annoy. See Annoy.
Source: Websters Vocabulary