smelled
/ˈsmɛld/
smelled is the simple past and past participle of smell.
Meaning of smell
Verb
smell (third-person singular simple present smells, present participle smelling, simple past and past participle smelled or smelt)
- To sense a smell or smells.
- I can smell fresh bread.
- To detect or perceive; often with out.
- I smell a device.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.
- The roses smell lovely.
- To smell of; to have a smell of
- I do smell all horse-piss1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- To smell bad; to stink.
- Ew, this restroom smells (loathsomely).
- To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
- A report smells of calumny.
Phrases with smelled
- smelled up
- smelled out
- smelled a rat
- smelled blood
- smelled the barn
- smelled the coffee
- smelled like a rose
- smelled of the lamp
- smelled of the shop
- smelled like a tart's bedroom
- smelled like a tart's boudoir
- smelled like a tart's handbag
10 more phrasesFewer phrases
- stopped and smelled the roses
- woke up and smelled the ashes
- woke up and smelled the roses
- woke up and smelled the coffee
- woken up and smelled the ashes
- woken up and smelled the roses
- stopped and smelled the flowers
- woken up and smelled the coffee
- smelled like a tart's handkerchief
- smelled what someone was stepping in
Words that rhyme with smelled
Questions about smelled
- What is smelled the simple past and past participle of?
- Smelled is the simple past and past participle of smell.
- How do you pronounce smelled?
- Smelled is pronounced /ˈsmɛld/.
Words near smelled in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smelled (page history and authors); smell (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-smelled.wav.
Cite this entry: “smelled.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smelled. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
