1
as in smelly
having an unpleasant smell
came home from their trip to find stinking garbage that had been left in the kitchen
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in drunk
slang
being under the influence of alcohol
warned her husband not to come home stinking—or he'd be sleeping on the couch
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in damn
to a great degree
a huge, showy house that screams, "We're stinking rich!"
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stinking
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2019
Muttaiah said the man inside the stinking manhole was working without any safety equipment — no gloves, no shoes, no supplemental oxygen.
—Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
GothamGetty Images Aren't expectant parents Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee just so stinking cute?
—Emily Dixon, Marie Claire, 3 Dec. 2019
Second, the Huskies covered the spread as the favorite one stinking time?
—Mike Anthony, courant.com, 29 Aug. 2019
The area included a stinking heap: years of goat dung in layers up to a foot thick.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 28 Aug. 2019
Man, that’s one crazy set of numbers, not to mention a stinking pile of horse manure, as the two long-revered defenders continue to make one sensational play after another . .
—Bruce Jenkins, SFChronicle.com, 19 July 2019
But his mechanics were already pretty stinking good.
—Robert Klemko, SI.com, 15 July 2019
Jackie Calmes, Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
This is about a team with a top-10 payroll whose GM committed too stinking much of it to dogs that can’t, or won’t, pull the sled.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2019
Muttaiah said the man inside the stinking manhole was working without any safety equipment — no gloves, no shoes, no supplemental oxygen.
—Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
GothamGetty Images Aren't expectant parents Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee just so stinking cute?
—Emily Dixon, Marie Claire, 3 Dec. 2019
Second, the Huskies covered the spread as the favorite one stinking time?
—Mike Anthony, courant.com, 29 Aug. 2019
The area included a stinking heap: years of goat dung in layers up to a foot thick.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 28 Aug. 2019
Man, that’s one crazy set of numbers, not to mention a stinking pile of horse manure, as the two long-revered defenders continue to make one sensational play after another . .
—Bruce Jenkins, SFChronicle.com, 19 July 2019
But his mechanics were already pretty stinking good.
—Robert Klemko, SI.com, 15 July 2019
Verb
But who cares about stinking elections?
—Jackie Calmes, Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stinking
Adjective
-
Once cool, pour it into a spray bottle and lightly mist the smelly surfaces.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Your smelly trash could also attract ants and other pests.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
In Aurora, some of the attendees became drunk and rowdy.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
-
She is raped, half-drunk, at a party and bites off a piece of her attacker’s ear.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
7 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
As a result, Green Bay just got glitzier — and America’s Team appears pretty damn far from Super.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
29 Aug. 2025
-
The Orange Is the New Black star helped launch EW's annual LGBTQ+ issue — and looked damn good doing it.—
Leah Greenblatt,
EW.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Both are intoxicated, and Roman agrees, but Dennis gets caught up in the moment and starts sucking on Roman’s toes.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Will abandons his students at the first sight of Agnes walking by the classroom window, and the two of them are sucking faces a minute later.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Taipei blends incense with cutting-edge innovation—crowned by the soaring spire of Taipei 101 and grounded in night markets where stinky tofu and bubble tea perfume the air.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
The amount of the often-stinky seaweed that washes up on beaches has spiked tremendously in the last dozen years, bringing frustration to South Florida beachgoers and causing real economic damage in the Caribbean.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
His arrival home each night is announced by his sputtering motorcycle and his drunken stumbling up the stairs.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The data, which is from the past three years and from LendingTree’s proprietary database, includes recent traffic incidents and violations such as accidents, drunken driving arrests and speeding tickets.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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The car scenes are rough, authentic, and often deeply compelling — mainly because the fresh-faced Bridges is so damned charismatic.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
While Nintendo mostly conceded the corporate tug-of-war over graphical prowess back in 2006 with the Wii, the general plateau of visual enhancements over the last two generations means that games running on Switch 2 look pretty damned good even compared to more premium devices.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
5 June 2025
Verb
-
In front of a packed crowd of surgeons, Morton asked Abbott to breathe in the fumes of a sweet-smelling liquid, known as ether, contained inside a small glass sphere.—
RJ Mackenzie,
Popular Science,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The two pups immediately start smelling each other and wagging their tails, clearly stating their approval of one another.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stinking. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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