stink
English
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”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: stĭngk, IPA(key): /stɪŋk/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪŋk
Verb
stink (third-person singular simple present stinks, present participle stinking, simple past stank or stunk, past participle stunk)
- (intransitive) To have a strong bad smell.
- (intransitive, stative, informal) To be greatly inferior; to perform badly.
- That movie stinks. I didn't even stay for the end.
- 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 287628, page 24:
- They gave me Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen. I thought it was going to stink, but it didn't. It was a very good book.
- 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, ISSN 1054-4836, page 135:
- Improve your golf swing by taking your mate to the driving range. If you're good, you can show off and give her some tips. If you stink, play it for laughs.
- (intransitive) To give an impression of dishonesty, untruth, or sin.
- Something stinks about the politician's excuses.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- The parish stank of idolatry, abominable rites were practiced in secret, and in all the bounds there was no one had a more evil name for the black traffic than one Alison Sempill, who bode at the Skerburnfoot.
- (transitive) To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.
Synonyms
- (have a strong bad smell): pong, reek
- (be greatly inferior): suck, blow (both slightly vulgar)
- (give an impression of dishonesty or untruth): be fishy
Derived terms
- astink
- give out stink
- Palestinkian
- stink like a mackerel
- stink out
- stink to high heaven
- stink up
Translations
have a strong bad smell
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informal: be greatly inferior
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give an impression of dishonesty or untruth
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
stink (plural stinks)
- A strong bad smell.
- (informal) A complaint or objection.
- If you don't make a stink about the problem, nothing will be done.
Synonyms
- (strong bad smell): fetor, odour/odor, pong, reek, smell, stench
- (informal: complaint or objection):
- (slang: chemistry):
Derived terms
Terms derived from stink (noun)
- kick up a stink
- stink badger
- stinkbomb
- stinker
- stink eye
- stink machine
- stinks: chemistry (slang)
- stinky
Translations
strong bad smell
|
informal: complaint or objection
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slang: chemistry
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Adjective
stink (comparative more stink, superlative most stink)
- (slang, New Zealand) Bad; inferior; worthless.
- The concert was stink. / That was a stink concert.
- (Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica) Bad-smelling, stinky[1].
- 2013, Stabroek News, 19 February 2013, cited by Deborah Jan Osman Backer in a speech delivered in the National Assembly during the Budget Debate, 2013,
- Everyone is up in arms but it smells stink because it smells of racism…
- 2014, Taureef Mohammed, “Imam recounts 55-day Venezuelan horror,” Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 26 May, 2014,
- Spending hours in a “stink" morgue, being called “Taliban”, thinking of getting shot in the head by officers—memories of Venezuela that have left Hamza Mohammed, imam of the Montrose mosque, still trembling today.
- 2016, Kei Miller, Augustown, New York: Pantheon, Chapter 1, p. 5,
- […] what Ma Taffy smells on this early afternoon makes her sit up straight. She smells it high and ripe and stink on the air, like a bright green jackfruit in season being pulled to the rocky ground below.
- 2013, Stabroek News, 19 February 2013, cited by Deborah Jan Osman Backer in a speech delivered in the National Assembly during the Budget Debate, 2013,
References
- Lise Winer (editor), Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008, p. 854
Anagrams
- knits, sinkt, skint, snikt, tinks
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch stinken, from Middle Dutch stinken, from Old Dutch stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną.
Verb
stink (present stink, present participle stinkende, past participle gestink)
- to stink
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stɪŋk/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: stink
- Rhymes: -ɪŋk
Verb
stink
- first-person singular present indicative of stinken
- imperative of stinken
Anagrams
- snikt
Middle English
Noun
stink
- Alternative form of stynk
Swedish
Verb
stink
- imperative of stinka