stench

[stench]

noun

1. an offensive smell or odor; stink.

2. a foul quality.

stench

/ stɛntʃ /

noun

1. a strong and extremely offensive odour; stink

Other Word Forms

• stenchful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stench¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English stenc “odor (good or bad)”; akin to stink

Word History and Origins

Origin of stench¹

Old English stenc; related to Old Saxon, Old High German stank; see _stink

Synonym Study

See odor.

Example Sentences

The air was thick with the stench of a decomposing dog, left out to rot with no residents around to remove it.

Read more on Barron's

I’m quickly blessed with the stench of what smells like rotting meat.

Read more on Literature

On summer nights the sound of laughter from pubs and bars wafts through his neighbourhood - but so does the stench of rubbish.

Read more on BBC

Striker John Fashanu said the Wimbledon players did not shower or brush their teeth for a week before the game in an attempt to put Liverpool off with their stench.

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Antisemitism masquerading as anti-Zionism became perhaps subtler, but its stench remained, its ultimate objectives unchanged.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• smell 
• stink