stink

[ stingk ]

verb (used without object)

, stank [stangk] or, often, stunk [stuhngk]; stunk; stink·ing.

1. to emit a strong offensive smell.

   Synonyms: reek

2. to be offensive to honesty or propriety; to be in extremely bad repute or disfavor.
3. Informal. to be disgustingly inferior:

   That book stinks.

4. Slang. to have a large quantity of something (usually followed by of or with ):

   They stink of money. She stinks with jewelry.

verb (used with object)

, stank [stangk] or, often, stunk [stuhngk]; stunk; stink·ing.

1. to cause to stink or be otherwise offensive (often followed by up ):

   an amateurish performance that really stank up the stage.

noun

1. a strong offensive smell; stench.
2. Informal. an unpleasant fuss; scandal:

   There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.

3. stinks, (used with a singular verb) British Slang. chemistry as a course of study.

verb phrase

1. to repel or drive out by means of a highly offensive smell.

stink

/ stɪŋk /

noun

1. a strong foul smell; stench
2. slang.
   a great deal of trouble (esp in the phrase to make or raise a stink )
3. like stink
   intensely; furiously

verb

1. to emit a foul smell
2. slang.
   to be thoroughly bad or abhorrent

   this town stinks

3. informal.
   to have a very bad reputation

   his name stinks

4. to be of poor quality
5. slang.
   foll byof or with to have or appear to have an excessive amount (of money)
6. informal.
   trusually foll byup to cause to stink

Other Words From

• outstink verb (used with object) outstank or, often, outstunk outstunk outstinking

Word History and Origins

Origin of stink¹

First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English stinken, Old English stincan; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb; cognate with German stinken (verb); stench

Word History and Origins

Origin of stink¹

Old English stincan; related to Old Saxon stinkan, German stinken, Old Norse stökkva to burst; see stench

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with stink , also see big stink ; make a stink ; smell (stink) up .

Example Sentences

Thus, an Egyptian pharaoh’s first duty was to erase the social and physical stink of isfet and institute the sweet smell of ma’at, Goldsmith contends.

From Science News

This never worked quite right—we’re all familiar with the public bathroom aroma of powerfully perfumed cleaning agents trying to overpower an undertone of residual stink.

From Popular-Science

Apocrine glands become active at puberty and are primarily responsible for turning armpits into stink zones from adolescence onward.

From Time

Extended stays in a damp petri-dish pile of clothes, not the initial exposure to sweat on your ride, is what leads to persistent stink over time.

From Outside Online

People first gave me the stink eye in London as I was American, but I got more of that in Puerto Rico from expat Americans.

From Ozy

And yet, this will be the media frame: “Obama throws stink bomb.”

From The Daily Beast

Shortly after his confession, Vision Forum Ministries closed up shop, unable to continue with the stink of sex scandal upon them.

From The Daily Beast

Hilton danced in a corner by herself while her then-boyfriend, shipping heir Stavros Niarchos, gave her the stink eye.

From The Daily Beast

As you get older, the more you think, the more you stink, really.

From The Daily Beast

Intellectual shut-ins are a dime a dozen these days, and they all stink just as bad as the next one.

From The Daily Beast

Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

From Project Gutenberg

Alan would take the spinning pass and bound forward into the stink-stained Modern juniors or embryo subalterns of Army C.

From Project Gutenberg

Get the stink blown off you—forget some terrible things that had happened to you.

From Project Gutenberg

Fresh fish and unwelcome friends stink before they're three days auld.

From Project Gutenberg

Proverb: When fish has gone bad ten thousand decent men can't take away the stink.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• stench