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
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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)
-
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.
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(used with a singular verb) stinks, chemistry as a course of study.
verb phrase
noun
-
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 )
-
intensely; furiously
verb
-
to emit a foul smell
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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
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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
-
stinkssimple
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have stunkperfect
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has stunkperfect
-
am stinkingprogressive
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are stinkingprogressive
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is stinkingprogressive
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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:
Innuendo leaves a lingering stink that’s harder to dispel.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
A new breeze baptized us in another vile stink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Best and Last’s” flashbacks are a walloping reminder that Knoxville is inimitable: a telegenic and extroverted entertainer with a charisma he wields like a skunk aims its stink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Maybe one person’s stink is another’s perfume; maybe we’ve gone nose-blind to all fetidness.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
“And do wash your socks. They stink up the whole room. You’re better than that.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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
He thinks each individual plant stinks more than previous blooms, but on top of that, he said: “The fact that we have two in bloom makes it stinkier.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Scratchy and stiff, it stinks of the stale urine used to set the dye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
“The running joke in the community was, ‘The first product stinks, the second one’s better, and the third one’s where they get it right.’
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
The cottage stinks like a midden — baby’s mess everywhere.
From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz
And if the pitch stank, Borzello wouldn’t be afraid to say so.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2024
He found a place in Astana in an apartment that stank of cat.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The whole thing "stank", he said, with it never discovered who planted it.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2023
Black singers get it: You’re practicing the art of stank.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
Everything about Miss New Jersey is regal, but not in a conceited, uppity, stank way.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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
Sometimes his trash fires stunk pretty bad, depending on the types of atoms the bullfighter was freeing.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
Stafford Hopkins is good-looking, brilliant, successful and stinking rich.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 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
A poisonous river of a stinking yellow liquid rushed downhill, inundating homes and fields, including the one where she grew corn to feed her eight children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
In the Clippers’ 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Intuit Dome, Harden looked nothing like the player with a reputation for stinking up arenas at this stage of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
“And what may they be? Your friend fire isn't here to help you. You don't even have that stinking marten.”
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
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.
