stink
Americanverb (used without object)
-
stinks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stunk,
past participle, past
-
stank,
past
-
stinking
present participle
-
to emit a strong offensive smell.
- Synonyms:
- reek
-
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.
-
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)
-
stinks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stunk,
past participle, past
-
stank,
past
-
stinking
present participle
noun
-
stinks
plural
-
a strong offensive smell; stench.
-
Informal. an unpleasant fuss; scandal.
There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.
-
(used with a singular verb) stinks, chemistry as a course of study.
verb phrase
noun
-
a strong foul smell; stench
-
slang a great deal of trouble (esp in the phrase to make or raise a stink )
-
intensely; furiously
verb
-
to emit a foul smell
-
slang to be thoroughly bad or abhorrent
this town stinks
-
informal to have a very bad reputation
his name stinks
-
to be of poor quality
-
slang to have or appear to have an excessive amount (of money)
-
informal to cause to stink
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stinksimple
-
stinkssimple
-
have stunkperfect
-
has stunkperfect
-
am stinkingprogressive
-
are stinkingprogressive
-
is stinkingprogressive
-
have been stinkingperfect progressive
-
has been stinkingperfect progressive
Past
-
stanksimple
-
stunksimple
-
had stunkperfect
-
was stinkingprogressive
-
were stinkingprogressive
-
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.
See Examples For:
Injuries stink, and so did the opacity with which the Clippers shared news of their star’s health status.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Innuendo leaves a lingering stink that’s harder to dispel.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
The plant started to open late Tuesday, and then it was game on for Wednesday, with Morticia at the peak of its stink power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
A new breeze baptized us in another vile stink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
And in my head I was already trotting off, looking for that stick, even though I could smell the stink and the thorns were pricking me.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
USC beats four early-season patsies to boost their stats and gain a No. 12 ranking, all the while their defense stinks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
The reason is clear the second you walk into the neighbourhood: it stinks.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Something where everybody stinks is the ideal sort of outing,” Norton says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Imagine this conversation with your spouse or roommate: “Dude, what is that smell? It stinks like burning diapers. Did you forget to pay the air?”
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The supermarket chicken is raised in “a ten-thousand-bird shed that stinks to high heaven.”
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
"Everything was foggy, you couldn't open the window and it stank," she said, showing a picture on her phone of an orange glow partially obscured by thick smoke clouds that had turned the air black.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
"The sewage was overflowing and flowing directly into the river, and going into the children's playground. It stank in summertime," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2025
He visited Los Angeles in 1926 and declared that “the whole place stank of orange blossoms.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2024
He found a place in Astana in an apartment that stank of cat.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The hall stank of soot, dung, and wet dog.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
We didn’t have whales, just freshwater fish like alewifes, which stunk up the beaches with annual die-offs that occurred in huge numbers.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
For the past five years, returns have stunk, especially following a 28% tumble for the ETF since the end of October.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Had the Lakers stunk all season on that side of the ball, had they been a stagnant mess from Day 1, maybe the answers would be clearer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2024
“It was disgusting,” she said, explaining that the walls were damp and mouldy, while the flat was dirty and stunk of cigarette smoke.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2024
“I stepped on a mess of them a couple of weeks ago. They stunk like a skunk!”
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
Bezos’ participation provided a flashpoint, the rotten cherry on top of the whole stinking “let them eat cake.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
Stafford Hopkins is good-looking, brilliant, successful and stinking rich.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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
Just last month a massive stinking lump of wet wipes, fat and oil was removed from a west London sewer.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025
Soon he had a glowing, stinking lasso of poisonous weeds.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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