stench
[stench]
- an offensive smell or odor; stink.
- a foul quality.
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Origin of stench
Synonyms
See more synonyms for stench on Thesaurus.comSee odor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stench
Contemporary Examples
The stench of corruption is settling over world soccer like a poisonous fog, and players are paying the price.
In the darkness none of the others could tell where the stench came from.
They were being carried out and the stench of their rotting flesh and bloated guts made it hard to examine them closely.
The small family home is still intact but the stench of rotting flesh that comes from inside is overpowering.
The stench of the backed-up toilets combines with the fumes of garbage fermenting in the midday sun.
Historical Examples
The dust, the smoke, and the stench of the powder were suffocating.
Fog, and drizzle, and smoke, and stench composed the atmosphere.
David ElginbrodGeorge MacDonald
Stench of fat kitchens, of soft bubbling alleys, of gleaming refuse.
Erik DornBen Hecht
And I don't like the stench of that kind of cop in my place.
Police Your PlanetLester del Rey
At the vesper hour, there came an eighth, the stench of which was horrible.
ThaisAnatole France
stench
- a strong and extremely offensive odour; stink
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Word Origin
Old English stenc; related to Old Saxon, Old High German stank; see stink
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for stench
n.
Old English stenc "a smell" (either pleasant or unpleasant), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (cf. Old Saxon stanc, Old High German stanch, German stank). Related to stincan "emit a smell" (see stink) as drench is to drink. The notion of "evil smell" predominated from c.1200.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper