stunk

[ stuhngk ]

/ stʌŋk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stunk ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of stink.

RELATED WORDS

smell, offend, reek, funk

Nearby words

Definition for stunk (2 of 2)

stink

[ stingk ]

/ stɪŋk /

verb (used without object), stank or, often, stunk; stunk; stink·ing.

to emit a strong offensive smell.

to be offensive to honesty or propriety; to be in extremely bad repute or disfavor.

Informal. to be disgustingly inferior: That book stinks.

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 or, often, stunk; stunk; stink·ing.

to cause to stink or be otherwise offensive (often followed by up): an amateurish performance that really stank up the stage.

noun

a strong offensive smell; stench.

Informal. an unpleasant fuss; scandal: There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.

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

Verb Phrases

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

Origin of stink

before 900; (v.) Middle English stinken, Old English stincan; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.; cognate with German stinken. (v.); cf. stench

SYNONYMS FOR stink

1 reek.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stink ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsout·stink, verb (used with object), out·stank or, often, out·stunk; out·stunk; out·stink·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stunk

One episode, the Christmas one, we all pigged out like crazy and went to see Tron: Legacy right after, and we all stunk horribly.
Epic Meal Time Creators on Their Future Plans|Marlow Stern|March 18, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Then with his own hands he let down by a rope a bag of burning sulphur and pitch, and stunk them out.
School Reading by Grades|James Baldwin
Their water, as it grew low, stunk abominably, and became full of worms.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11|Robert Kerr
This they seemed to void in a way of defence, and it stunk worse than assafoetida, or what is commonly called devil's dung.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18)|Robert Kerr

Father drunk, mother drunk, a hell of a home that stunk with liquor, and where there was no bread.
L'Assommoir|Emile Zola
It is none too fine yet, but in those days, when every nuisance crowded out of New York found refuge there, it stunk to heaven.
Modern American Prose Selections|Various

British Dictionary definitions for stunk (1 of 2)

stunk

/ (stʌŋk) /

verb

a past tense and past participle of stink

British Dictionary definitions for stunk (2 of 2)

stink

/ (stɪŋk) /

noun

a strong foul smell; stench

slang a great deal of trouble (esp in the phrase to make or raise a stink)

like stink intensely; furiously

verb stinks, stinking, stank, stunk or stunk (mainly intr)

to emit a foul smell

slang to be thoroughly bad or abhorrentthis town stinks

informal to have a very bad reputationhis name stinks

to be of poor quality

(foll by of or with) slang to have or appear to have an excessive amount (of money)

(tr usually foll by up) informal to cause to stink

Word Origin for stink

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stunk (1 of 2)

stink

Old English stincan "emit a smell of any kind" (class III strong verb; past tense stonc), from West Germanic *stenkwanan (cf. Old Saxon stincan, Old High German stinkan, Dutch stinken), from the root of stench. Old English swote stincan "to smell sweet," but offensive sense began in Old English and was primary by mid-13c.; smell now tends the same way. Figurative meaning "be offensive" is from early 13c.; meaning "be inept" is recorded from 1924. To stink to high heaven first recorded 1963.

Word Origin and History for stunk (1 of 2)

stink

c.1300, from stink (v.). Sense of "extensive fuss" first recorded 1812.

Idioms and Phrases with stunk

stink

In addition to the idiom beginning with stink

stink to high heaven

also see:

big stink
make a stink
smell (stink) up