stink
Americanverb (used without object)
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to emit a strong offensive smell.
- Synonyms:
- reek
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to be offensive to honesty or propriety; to be in extremely bad repute or disfavor.
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Informal. to be disgustingly inferior.
That book stinks.
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Slang. to have a large quantity of something (usually followed by of orwith ).
They stink of money. She stinks with jewelry.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a strong offensive smell; stench.
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Informal. an unpleasant fuss; scandal.
There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.
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(used with a singular verb) stinks, chemistry as a course of study.
verb phrase
noun
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a strong foul smell; stench
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slang a great deal of trouble (esp in the phrase to make or raise a stink )
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intensely; furiously
verb
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to emit a foul smell
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slang to be thoroughly bad or abhorrent
this town stinks
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informal to have a very bad reputation
his name stinks
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to be of poor quality
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slang to have or appear to have an excessive amount (of money)
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informal to cause to stink
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stinksimple
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stinkssimple
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have stunkperfect
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has stunkperfect
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am stinkingprogressive
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are stinkingprogressive
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is stinkingprogressive
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have been stinkingperfect progressive
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has been stinkingperfect progressive
Past
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stanksimple
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stunksimple
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had stunkperfect
-
was stinkingprogressive
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were stinkingprogressive
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had been stinkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stink
First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English stinken, Old English stincan; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb; cognate with German stinken (verb); cf. stench
Explanation
When things stink, they smell terrible. If you throw food scraps in your kitchen trash can, it will eventually start to stink. You can say that something stinks — your dog's breath, or your brother's feet — and you can call the offensive odor itself a stink. Figuratively, something can stink even if it doesn't literally smell bad: "I'm sorry, but that movie you recommended really stinks. It's awful." The Old English root is stincan, "emit a smell of any kind, or exhale."
Vocabulary lists containing stink
The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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Smell Words
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Words with Two Past-Tense Forms That Creeped (or Crept) into English
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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.
Get ready to catch a whiff of stink.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2026
A new breeze baptized us in another vile stink.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2026
I asked them if there’s a ratio of assets to spending that maximizes the odds of a secure retirement—even if stock returns stink or you turn out to be Methuselah.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
She’s one of us, a fan of an onion bagel for breakfast, even if it makes her breath stink.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2026
The cashier gives me the stink eye anyways.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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.
