Niffed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have identified or become aware of a particular smell through the act of smelling
2. To have experienced a fleeting perception of an aroma by drawing in air through the nose
3. To quickly notice or catch a scent with the nose ; to feel slight irritation or displeasure about something

Etymology: "Niffed" is simply the past tense and past participle of "niff," so the word's history is really the history of "niff." The verb has a sense of quickly catching a scent, and a sense of being slightly put out or irritated, which is the one many readers will meet in British speech. The sense of "niff" also gets used in a way that surprises people: it is less a formal word than a colloquial one, and the irritation sense often seems to have grown out of the idea of a smell that is unpleasant enough to notice and resent. Because the verb is written with its past forms in the same spelling, "niffed" carries both meanings, and context usually settles which one is meant.

Synonyms: smelled, scented, detected, whiffed, perceived