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Noisome has nothing to do with noise
Noisome and noise
A freeway underpass described as a really noisome place is a gross place, not a loud one. Noise comes from annoy, and so does ennui. The word keeps causing confusion because it looks like it should mean full of noise, the way awesome means full of awe.
Nauseous
Nauseous trips people up in a similar way. It means producing the feeling of nausea, which makes it a match for nauseating. People use it for the feeling itself, as in saying they feel nauseous, but taken literally that means they are causing nausea in others, or in themselves.
A usage dictionary, which covers how words can be used best rather than what they mean, is the tool for sorting out differences like these.
How did annoy end up in noisome?
Noisome was built in the fourteenth century from noy, a shortened form of annoy, plus the ending some, as in tiresome and troublesome. Its first meanings were harmful and annoying. The sense of foul-smelling came later and is the main one today.
Why do ennui and annoy share a root?
Both descend from the late Latin phrase in odio, meaning in hatred. Old French turned it into forms that gave English annoy, while modern French kept ennui. English borrowed ennui directly from French centuries after annoy had arrived.
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