odor

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Related to odor: body odor

be in bad odor with (someone)

To be the target of another's anger or unhappiness. I've been in bad odor with Tiffany ever since she found out that I started that rumor about her. You will be in bad odor with the boss if you keep coming into work late.

be in good odor with (one)

To be in a pleasant or favorable relationship with one. I've been in good odor with my next-door neighbor ever since I brought her some of my homemade cookies. Your sister is in good odor with her teachers because she always completes her homework on time.

body odor

A foul smell usually related to sweat emanating from someone. Ew, you need to shower—you reek of body odor!

in bad odor

In a state in which one is the subject of another's displeasure or ire. I've been in bad odor with my next door neighbor ever since my dog destroyed her garden. Unless you like being in bad odor with your teachers, you should stop disrupting their classes!

in good odor

In a pleasant or favorable relationship with someone. I've been in good odor with my next door neighbor ever since I brought her some of my homemade cookies. Your sister is in good odor with her teachers because she always completes her homework on time.

odor of sanctity

1. Literally, a specific scent said to emanate from the body of a saint of the Catholic Church. I had never believed it, but upon entering the small crypt that held the saint's remains, I too could perceive the odor of sanctity so many religious writers had detailed before.

2. By extension, a state of grace, saintliness, or holiness. The nun, who tirelessly devoted her life to helping the poor of her nation, died in an odor of sanctity at the age of 97.

3. Smug and often hypocritical moral or social righteousness; sanctimoniousness. The author provides an extremely compelling moral argument, without enshrouding the entire narrative with an odor of sanctity.

odor of sanctity

Fig. an atmosphere of excessive holiness or piety. I hate their house. There's such an odor of sanctity with Bibles and holy pictures everywhere. The huge, medieval Gothic cathedral had a distinct odor of sanctity.

odor of sanctity

Exaggerated or hypocritical piety, an assumption of moral superiority, as in This candidate puts off some voters with his odor of sanctity. This expression, originating in the medieval idea that the dead body of a saintly individual gives off a sweet smell, was used to describe saintliness in the mid-1700s. Today it is generally used ironically.

be in good/bad ˈodour (with somebody)

(formal) have/not have somebody’s approval and support: He’s in rather bad odour with his boss at the moment.

odor of sanctity, the

A reputation for holiness. Today generally used ironically, for extreme or hypocritical piety, this term is based on the medieval notion that the dead body of a saintly person gives off a sweet smell. From this came, “He died in the odor of sanctity,” meaning he died a saint, which later was extended to mean saintliness in general. G. K. Chesterton used it in his poem “A Song of Self-Esteem”—“The Faith of Tennessee has wafted o’er the sea, the odour of its sanctity—and Golly how it stank!”—in which he derided the prosecution of John Scopes in 1925 for teaching evolution in his class at the Dayton (Tennessee) High School.