in bad odor

English

Alternative forms

• in bad odour

Etymology

Compare odour of sanctity.

Adjective

in bad odor

1. (idiomatic, often followed by with) Regarded with disapproval; in a situation of being disliked; shunned.

   Antonym: in good odor

   • 1877, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Surly Tim:

     So in conversing with men, women, and children, I gradually found out that Tim Hibblethwaite was in bad odor, and that he held himself doggedly aloof from all.

   • 1898, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 7, in The History of the United States:

     New Hampshire was in bad odor with the English government; but the farmers could endure that with equanimity.

   • 1900, Fergus Hume, “On Saturday Night”, in Bishop Pendle: Or, The Bishop’s Secret, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Rand, McNally & Company, →OCLC, page 62:

     […] Mosk could not pay his rent and was already in bad odour with his landlord, […]

   • 1993 May 8, Russell Baker, “Observer: What's in a Naming?”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Sept 2013:

     For the political right, naturally eager to put the left in bad odor, the naming frenzy was a bonanza.

   • 2002 July 22, Bill Saporito, “Wall Street's Verdict”, in Time, retrieved 27 Sept 2013:

     [T]he public looks at them as just a bunch of CEOs — a group in bad odor.

Synonyms

• frowned upon, on the outs

Translations

regarded with disapproval, shunned

• Finnish: huonossa maineessa, paheksuttu (fi)
• Maori: waingaio

See also

• bad books