Definition of STINK

stink

Plural: stinks

Noun

  • a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
  • A strong bad smell.
  • A complaint or objection.

Verb

Verb Forms: stank, stunk, stinking, stinks

  • To emit a strong, foul, and unpleasant odor.
  • be extremely bad in quality or in one's performance
    • "This term paper stinks!"
  • smell badly and offensively
  • To have a strong bad smell.
  • To be greatly inferior; to perform badly.
  • To give an impression of dishonesty, untruth, or sin.
  • To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.

Adj

  • Bad; inferior; worthless.
  • Bad-smelling, stinky.

Examples

  • If you don't make a stink about the problem, nothing will be done.
  • Something stinks about the politician's excuses.
  • That movie stinks. I didn't even stay for the end.
  • That triple-word score on STINK felt like a real triumph, despite the word’s meaning.
  • The concert was stink. / That was a stink concert.

Origin / Etymology

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 stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).

Scrabble Score: 9

stink: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
stink: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
stink: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

stink: valid Words With Friends Word