noisomeness

2 definitions found

noisomeness - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Noisome \Noi"some\, a. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See
     Annoy.]
     1. Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome;
        insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. "Noisome
        pestilence." --Ps. xci. 3.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting; fetid.
        "Foul breath is noisome." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster] -- Noi"some*ly, adv. -- Noi"some*ness,
        n.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Noxious; unwholesome; insalubrious; mischievous;
          destructive.
  
     Usage: Noisome, Noxious. These words have to a great
            extent been interchanged; but there is a tendency to
            make 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.
            [1913 Webster]

noisomeness - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  noisomeness
      n 1: the quality of being noxious [syn: harmfulness,
           noisomeness, noxiousness]