noisome \NOY-sehm\ (adjective) - 1 : Offensive, disgusting, foul. 2 : Harmful or dangerous.
"Molly couldn't imagine even a homeless street bum bedecked in more noisome garb than Thomas wore that evening."
Middle English noie "harm" (shortened from Old French anoi "annoyance" which also was borrowed by English as "annoy") + -som, an adjective suffix meaning "having X or characterized by X" (from Old English -sum "like X, characterized by X"). Another lexicological curve ball: "noisome" has nothing to do with "noise" (which comes from Vulgar Latin nausea "seasickness" and, later, "discomfort") or the pronominal quantifier "some."
"Molly couldn't imagine even a homeless street bum bedecked in more noisome garb than Thomas wore that evening."
Middle English noie "harm" (shortened from Old French anoi "annoyance" which also was borrowed by English as "annoy") + -som, an adjective suffix meaning "having X or characterized by X" (from Old English -sum "like X, characterized by X"). Another lexicological curve ball: "noisome" has nothing to do with "noise" (which comes from Vulgar Latin nausea "seasickness" and, later, "discomfort") or the pronominal quantifier "some."
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