reeking 1 of 2

adjective

as in stinking
having an unpleasant smell I would rather not be the one to wash your reeking gym clothes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

reeking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of reek
as in smelling
to give off an extremely unpleasant smell those old sneakers reek something awful

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of reeking
Verb
Artists may have loved the old Gowanus, reeking green canal and all, but who would pay luxury rents to live in the new one? — Kim Velsey, Curbed, 9 Oct. 2026 The meteorite hurtled over the east coast before crash-landing in a house in Hillsborough, New Jersey where the homeowner found it, reeking of sulfur. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 15 July 2026 Today, a checkerboard of subdivisions crosses east to west, and the remaining grasslands are buried each day under reeking asphalt and rolls of turfgrass. — Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 14 May 2026 And the smell is soft and pleasant, instead of reeking of alcohol. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026 Following the opening verse with the characterization of his lady’s eyes, Shakespeare proceeded to give a rundown of her other features in less than flattering terms, including her lips (pale), hair (wiry), voice (grating) and breath (reeking). — David McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026 Once Catalina was asleep, Pedro tossed his backpack, reeking of the day’s clothes, into the bedroom. — Literary Hub, 16 Jan. 2026 When he was lugged in Saugus in 2011, reeking of cheap domestic lager, he was first told to turn off the engine in his unmarked MSP Crown Vic. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reeking
  1. stinking
  2. smelling
  3. ripe
  4. fetid
  5. malodorous
  6. foul
  7. smelly
  8. filthy
Adjective
  • For this argument Thomasine was jailed—stuffed into a damp, stinking, deadly stone cell crawling with rats and lice—to force her to change her beliefs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • America’s political landscape has become a stinking mess.
    — Mary Ellen Klas, Boston Herald, 1 June 2026
Definition of stinking
Verb
  • Josh Hartnett plays fisherman Calvin Penney, attempting to harvest blue ice for vodka in the face of declining stocks, but finding his haul smelling strangely of ammonia.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The products were Park Hyatt’s usual—delicious-smelling La Labo toiletries.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of smelling
Adjective
  • There was a wide stone wall on which someone had placed a row of ripe quinces from a nearby tree.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Le is particularly fond of the store’s Thai green bananas, which remain bright green even when fully ripe and develop an intensely sweet flavor.
    — Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of ripe
Adjective
  • However, the Mariners play in the AL West, a fetid swamp of baseball disappointment.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The Lineage warehouse fire, which erupted a mile away nearly two months ago, still blankets the church every morning with the fetid stench of millions of pounds of rotting food that have yet to be trucked away.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of fetid
Adjective
  • Skunks can cause anxiety in homeowners by harming lawns and possibly threatening Rover with their malodorous defenses.
    — Felicia Feaster, Martha Stewart, 20 June 2026
  • Be advised that only a small fraction of arums are malodorous.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 27 May 2026
Definition of malodorous
Adjective
  • Shohei Ohtani emerged from the visiting dugout at American Family Field with a bat in his hand, and the mass of media members scattered in foul territory up the third-base line shifted his way, pulled by the magnetic force that is Ohtani’s stardom.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of foul
Adjective
  • Westminster’s smelly and musty water is still safe to drink, city officials said.
    — Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The duo wants to be there for the good, the bad, and the questionably smelly while sprinkling some happy-go-lucky magic over all of it.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of smelly
Adjective
  • Some orphans, their faces filthy, walked the stands hawking candy.
    — Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Myriad violations, from food that should’ve been trashed weeks earlier to filthy equipment, befouled the state inspection of a West Miami-Dade supermarket this week.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of filthy

Browse Nearby Words

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reeking
reeks
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Cite this Entry

“Reeking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reeking. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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