in bad odor

• in bad odour

in bad odor

1. (idiomatic, often followed by with) Regarded with disapproval; in a situation of being disliked; shunned.
   • 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, The History of the United States, ch. 7:

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

   • 1900, Fergus Hume, The Bishop's Secret, ch. 8:

     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?," 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," Time (retrieved 27 Sept 2013):

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

• frowned upon, on the outs

• bad books