halitosis
/hæl.ɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/US/hæl.ɪˈtoʊ.sɪs/
halitosis noun: the condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath.
Noun
halitosis (countable and uncountable, plural halitoses)
- The condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath.
- Bad breath or halitosis is an indication of a disturbed digestive system. It is indicative of a bowel toxemia in either the small or large intestine with an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast.2004, Dicken Weatherby, Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective, Weatherby & Associates, LLC, →ISBN, page 115
- For example, the word halitosis was almost completely unknown among the general public until the early 20th century when a business owner named Gerard Lambert started using it to sell a new product called Listerine. By giving a mundane fact of life (bad breath) a scientific sounding label, Lambert...[2018 June 13, Michael Schein, “Author Simon Sinek Is Full Of Hot Air (And Other Reasons You Should Follow His Lead)”, in Forbes
- Synonyms:
- bromopnea, fetor oris, ozostomia, stomatodysodia
halitosis meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and Arabic
halitosis in Tamil
- நாற்றமூச்சு, வாய் துர்நாற்றம்
halitosis in Bengali
- দুর্গন্ধযুক্ত নিঃশ্বাস, মুখের গন্ধ
halitosis in Telugu
- condition of having foul-smelling breath
- నోటి దుర్వాసన nōṭi durvāsana
halitosis in Arabic
- condition of having foul-smelling breath
- بَخَر baḵar
More languagesFewer languages
- halitosis in Persian
- بوی بد دهان, گندهدهانی gande-dahâni
Synonyms of halitosis
Forms of halitosis
| plural | halitoses |
|---|
Origin of halitosis
Coined by doctor Joseph William Howe in 1874 and described as being derived from the Latin hālitus (literally “whiff, breath”) and the Ancient Greek νόσος (nósos, literally “disease”). It can be also understood as combination of the Latin hālitus and the English suffix -osis.
Words formed from halitosis
Words that rhyme with halitosis
- apotheosis
- symbiosis
- -osis
- abiosis
- diagnosis
- gnosis
- hypnosis
- lordosis
- arthrosis
- cytosis
- kyphosis
- meiosis
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- osmosis
- prognosis
- sclerosis
- stenosis
- synostosis
- theosis
- acanthocytosis
- acanthosis
- acidosis
- adiposis
- aerobiosis
- alkalosis
- amyloidosis
- anadiplosis
- anostosis
- aponeurosis
- apoptosis
- endocytosis
- exocytosis
- hemochromatosis
- ichthyosis
- koilocytosis
- lactosis
- leukoerythroblastosis
- miosis
- mitosis
- mononucleosis
- mycosis
- neoatherosclerosis
- neurosis
- ochronosis
- osteophytosis
- osteoporosis
- parahypnosis
- phagocytosis
- pinocytosis
- pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
- potocytosis
- probiosis
- psychosis
- ptosis
- pyrosis
- retrognosis
- rubatosis
- silicosis
- simuliotoxicosis
- synchondrosis
- syndesmosis
Questions about halitosis
- What does halitosis mean?
- Halitosis means the condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath.
- What is halitosis in Tamil?
- Halitosis in Tamil is நாற்றமூச்சு, வாய் துர்நாற்றம். See Halitosis meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is halitosis?
- Halitosis is a noun.
- How do you pronounce halitosis?
- Halitosis is pronounced /hæl.ɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of halitosis?
- The plural of halitosis is halitoses.
Words near halitosis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: halitosis (page history and authors); halitosis (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); halitosis (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-halitosis.wav.
Cite this entry: “halitosis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/halitosis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.