make a stink

1. Also, raise a stink. Create a great fuss; complain, criticize, or otherwise make trouble about something. For example, They promised to fix the printer today; you needn't make a stink about it, or The parents were raising a stink about the principal's new rules. This idiom transfers an offensive odor to a public fuss. [Mid-1800s] Also see make a scene.

Example Sentences

“He’s never made a stink in a headline about being disgruntled,” Conger said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Do I let it slide, because that’s what my sister herself is doing, or correct them and make a stink, every single time?

Read more on Washington Post

Part of her didn’t want to “make a stink,” because other issues, like homelessness, are more pressing.

Read more on Seattle Times

I suppose that I may be in a minority of reviewers to make a stink about this, but I really wish Razer had built in a 3.5mm jack for wired listening.

Read more on The Verge

“Bigger publications would like to make a stink that he’s going to the indies and not the big guys, which is frankly absurd,” she said.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• affirm 
• assert 
• declare 
• demonstrate 
• fight 
• insist 
• maintain 
• object 
• oppose 
• resist 
• revolt