stink
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.
to cause to stink or be otherwise offensive (often followed by up): an amateurish performance that really stank up the stage.
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.
stink out, to repel or drive out by means of a highly offensive smell.
Origin of stink
1Other words for stink
Other words from stink
- outstink, verb (used with object), out·stank or, often, out·stunk; out·stunk; out·stink·ing.
Words Nearby stink
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stink in a sentence
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.
Ancient ‘smellscapes’ are wafting out of artifacts and old texts | Bruce Bower | May 4, 2022 | Science NewsThis 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.
Apocrine glands become active at puberty and are primarily responsible for turning armpits into stink zones from adolescence onward.
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.
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.
And yet, this will be the media frame: “Obama throws stink bomb.”
Shortly after his confession, Vision Forum Ministries closed up shop, unable to continue with the stink of sex scandal upon them.
Sex Scandal Rocks the Duggars’ Christian Patriarchy Movement | Amanda Marcotte | April 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHilton danced in a corner by herself while her then-boyfriend, shipping heir Stavros Niarchos, gave her the stink eye.
Sundance ’14 Party Report: Anne Hathaway’s A Great Wingwoman, Kristen Stewart Cuts A Rug, and More | Marlow Stern | January 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs you get older, the more you think, the more you stink, really.
The Haunted Stage: Conor McPherson on His Plays | Ronald K. Fried | January 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIntellectual shut-ins are a dime a dozen these days, and they all stink just as bad as the next one.
Paul Krugman’s Nasty and Inane Attack on ‘Libertarian Populism’ | Nick Gillespie | July 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTTheir slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousAlan would take the spinning pass and bound forward into the stink-stained Modern juniors or embryo subalterns of Army C.
Sinister Street, vol. 1 | Compton MackenzieGet the stink blown off you—forget some terrible things that had happened to you.
The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke GallunFresh fish and unwelcome friends stink before they're three days auld.
The Proverbs of Scotland | Alexander HislopProverb: When fish has gone bad ten thousand decent men can't take away the stink.
The Title | Arnold Bennett
British Dictionary definitions for stink
/ (stɪŋk) /
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
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
(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
Origin of stink
1- See also stink out
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with stink
In addition to the idiom beginning with stink
- stink to high heaven
also see:
- big stink
- make a stink
- smell (stink) up
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse