stench
Americannoun
-
an offensive smell or odor; stink.
-
a foul quality.
noun
Related Words
See odor.
Other Word Forms
- stenchful adjective
Etymology
Origin of stench
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English stenc “odor (good or bad)”; akin to stink
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Residents began to complain of an “unbearable” stench that they said caused headaches, nausea, and eye, ear and nose irritation.
From Los Angeles Times
When it was ready, they’d pick a time to let loose with it, creating a stench so great it would scare the stripes off a skunk.
From Literature
In drought-hit northeastern Kenya, villagers have been forced to drag their dead livestock to distant fields for burning to keep the stench of death and scavenging hyenas away from their homes.
From Barron's
“The smell is particularly wretched today,” declared a pretty, blond lady, pressing a lace hankie to her nose to keep the stench away.
From Literature
The flashes and booms continue, and I am frozen on that ledge, my senses thumped again and again by the light, the noise, and the choking stench.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
