stink
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stink
- /stɪŋk/
Rhymes with -ɪŋk
Where it comes from
From Middle English stinken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-, *stegʷ- (“to push, thrust, strike”). Cognate with West Frisian stjonke (“to stink”), Dutch stinken (“to stink”), German stinken (“to stink”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).
Compare typologically Russian рази́ть (razítʹ).
verb stinks · stinking · stank · stunk
- To have a strong bad smell.
- To be greatly inferior; to perform badly. That movie stinks. I didn't even stay for the end.
- To give an impression of dishonesty, untruth, or sin. Something stinks about the politician's excuses.
- To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.
noun stinks
- A strong bad smell. “I’m thankful for this beautiful morning!” He points toward the sky. “See that sunrise? Smell that air—” / “That’s stink from the rendering plant.”
- A complaint or objection. If you don't make a stink about the problem, nothing will be done.
adjective more stink · most stink
- Bad; inferior; worthless. The concert was stink. / That was a stink concert.
- Bad-smelling, stinky. 2013, Stabroek News, 19 February 2013, cited by Deborah Jan Osman Backer in a speech delivered in the National Assembly during the Budget Debate, 2013, Everyone is up in arms but it smells stink because it smells of racism…
