- present participle of stink.
stinking
Americanadjective
-
having a foul smell
-
informal unpleasant or disgusting
-
slang (postpositive) very drunk
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stinking
before 1000; Middle English stinkinge, Old English stincende. See stink, -ing 2
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.
“These are all the struggles I think about every stinking day,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
To others, it put a stop to nights of stinging eyes and stinking clothes - and, most importantly, it saved lives.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
Miles and miles of refineries and their stinking tailings ponds, adjacent to beach resorts that run on desalination plants.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
A poisonous river of a stinking yellow liquid rushed downhill, inundating homes and fields, including the one where she grew corn to feed her eight children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
They took that stinking marten with them, she thought as she picked herself up again, but not me.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
![]()
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.