Just looking at this word makes me laugh. But it is a real word, at least according to Merriam-Webster, the American Heritage Dictionary, and a few other sources. And not only is this word legit–it’s been used since 1766!
So what does it mean exactly?
smell·fun·gusnoun\ˈsmelˌfəŋgəs\: a captious critic : faultfinder
I have a hard time believing that this word gets much use in 2017, but let’s investigate:
From a New York Daily News article:
“Yes, we know this page can be a smellfungus (faultfinder), but with fanfaronade (bragging manner), we hereby salute an achievement of pharaonic (enormous) proportions …”
From a U.K. Express article:
No need to paste the quote–it’s just the definition. The article is titled “Borborygmus, ramfeezled and zamzodden: Weird and wonderful words we’ve forgotten.”
From a Dallas News article:
It was mentioned here as a word used in the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Again, it just lists the definition.
Side note: It was really challenging to find articles that used the word smellfungus because there’s a very prolific commenter by the name of Smellfungus who kept coming up in my search results. He especially likes to comment on Breitbart News articles.
Proof Perfectly 
Hi Sara…thanks for making us aware about these new words
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No problem. I enjoy discovering them.
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That was an awesome post! I will try to use smellfungus sometimes now, too. Thanks.
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Good luck with that!
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This is great! I love funky words like this; I can’t say I’ll find a use for it, but I’ll sure try!
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