1
as in smelly
having an unpleasant smell
came home from their trip to find stinking garbage that had been left in the kitchen
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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
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as in damn
to a great degree
a huge, showy house that screams, "We're stinking rich!"
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stinking
Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
Their solution to a stinking run was, comically, to rely on less than 23 per cent of possession and pick Madrid off with a classy volley from Martin Satriano, below.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026
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
Steve Bender, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2026
While the paramedics tried to decide whether to walk around or step over the stinking trash, a neighborhood’s shock began to bloat.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Nix can sling it with Sam Darnold all stinking day.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Jan. 2026
Free yourself from those stinking shackles!
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2026
The carpets were absolutely stinking of wet cheesy dog.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
The defense already looks tired of the offense stinking.
—Zac Jackson, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
But who cares about stinking elections?
—Jackie Calmes, Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Not the good, high-altitude ozone that shields us from dangerous UV light, but bad ozone, hovering right above ground level — stinking, brownish, grayish photochemical smog.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
Their solution to a stinking run was, comically, to rely on less than 23 per cent of possession and pick Madrid off with a classy volley from Martin Satriano, below.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026
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
Verb
And not some stinking Bradford pears.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2026
While the paramedics tried to decide whether to walk around or step over the stinking trash, a neighborhood’s shock began to bloat.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Nix can sling it with Sam Darnold all stinking day.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Jan. 2026
Free yourself from those stinking shackles!
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2026
The carpets were absolutely stinking of wet cheesy dog.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
The defense already looks tired of the offense stinking.
—Zac Jackson, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
But who cares about stinking elections?
—Jackie Calmes, Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stinking
Adjective
-
Store smelly wood such as cedar or pine and petroleum products, including tar paper, paint, turpentine, kerosene, rubber and charcoal fluid.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
8 May 2026
-
Tripti Bhattacharya, a paleoclimatologist at Syracuse University, also takes advantage of waxy substances—though much less smelly ones.—
Hannah Richter,
Scientific American,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
On Friday, May 15, a Qantas flight traveling from Melbourne, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, was diverted to Tahiti after a man who appeared to be drunk emerged from the bathroom and exhibited disruptive behavior toward flight attendants.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
17 May 2026
-
And as a result, their readthrough found all of them, potentially still drunk trying to get through it.—
Reshma Gopaldas,
IndieWire,
17 May 2026
Adverb
-
The Nobel-prize-winning novelist Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) go on an unsentimental journey in 1949 through West and East Germany in Pawel Pawlikowski’s damn-near perfect period piece Fatherland.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
-
After a lifetime of being told to stay quiet and smile, screaming your truths or slamming them out on a drum set feels damn good.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
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
Verb
-
These images do not romanticize the West as much as document how difficult, life-sucking and under-appreciated this job can be.—
Ray Mark Rinaldi,
Denver Post,
18 May 2026
-
Check out this play from Game 4 of the Knicks’ soul-sucking sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Freshen Cat Litter A stinky litter box does not make for a pleasant home.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
13 May 2026
-
Keno brought his goofy side to every practice, getting laughs at stinky feet jokes, or pretending to run into a door.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The fiery collision was one of America’s deadliest drunken driving crashes on record.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
Sacramento police have scheduled a drunken driving checkpoint Friday night somewhere in the city, officers said.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
14 May 2026
Adverb
-
But Cleveland State was, in fact, a damned good basketball team, as were most of the double-digit seed winners in NCAA Tournament history.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 Mar. 2026
-
And damned if Love isn’t willing to talk, sometimes candidly and other times in maddeningly vague terms, about all the hell she’s gone through to get to right now.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stinking. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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