1
: to emit a strong offensive odor
stank of urine
2
: to be offensive
the election stank of corruption
also
: to be in bad repute
3
: to possess something to an offensive degree
stinking with wealth
4
: to be extremely bad or unpleasant
the performance stank
that news really stinks
Synonyms
Examples of stink in a Sentence
Verb
The food is good at that restaurant, but the service stinks.
Having a root canal stinks.
Noun
People raised a stink about the new law.
He kicked up a stink about the way he'd been treated.
Recent Examples on the Web
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
The hate stinks, some of it gets taken completely out of context and taken way too far.
—Sarah Hagi, Vulture, 15 Mar. 2024
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 May 2024
Porsche likes to make a big stink about the fact that Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first hybrid drive car, the Lohner Porsche Semper Vivus, around 125 years ago.
—Bradley Brownell / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stink 
Verb
We’ll just be covered in dead chicken, wondering what stinks.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
The hate stinks, some of it gets taken completely out of context and taken way too far.
—Sarah Hagi, Vulture, 15 Mar. 2024
Noun
Neglecting to truly reckon with the gravity of that in his replies and laughing anything off as far-fetched in an era where a lie never dies is a catastrophic miscalculation on par with refusing to make a more concerted stink about his peers diminishing his Blackness.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 May 2024
Porsche likes to make a big stink about the fact that Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first hybrid drive car, the Lohner Porsche Semper Vivus, around 125 years ago.
—Bradley Brownell / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stink
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Stink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stink. Accessed 19 Jun. 2024.
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