stink
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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
-
a strong offensive smell; stench.
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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
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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
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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
-
stinksimple
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stinkssimple
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have stunkperfect
-
has stunkperfect
-
am stinkingprogressive
-
are stinkingprogressive
-
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
Get ready to catch a whiff of 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
Maybe some choose to marvel at this one-in-a-lifetime behemoth stuck in our midst and ignore the stink.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
Above all, in the deer, was the stink of fear.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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
Here in La Guaira, which in happier times is a beach resort for people making a day trip from Caracas, the air now stinks of death.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
Scratchy and stiff, it stinks of the stale urine used to set the dye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
“If it bleeds, it leads” is no more, replaced by something that stinks in its own way.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Not every subway stinks, mammal,” he whispered back.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
He found a place in Astana in an apartment that stank of cat.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
Black singers get it: You’re practicing the art of stank.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
According to one account, the sulfurous stank emanating from the White House lawn polluted the air for about three-square miles.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2023
The bathroom stank of damp, with stained yellow tiles and sprawling patches of black mould.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2023
The air stank of burning wool and brimstone.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
“It kind of stunk that we lost. But I knew it was the last time I was going to put on a uniform. I was privileged to wear it for as long as I did.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2025
“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
At the time, Garvey was trying to organize charity sports events, which he stunk at, to put it politely.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
We stunk and so did Regis but they got up by twelve points.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Stafford Hopkins is good-looking, brilliant, successful and stinking rich.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
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
It was horrifying for his friend to see him enveloped by stinking, rotting waste.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2025
Harry did not get dosed with the stinking oil.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
