stinking

1 of 2

adjective

stink·​ing ˈstiŋ-kiŋ 

1

: strong and offensive to the sense of smell

stinking garbage

2

slang : offensively drunk

3

: contemptible, lousy

—often used as an intensive

the whole stinking affair

stinkingly adverb

stinking

2 of 2

adverb

: to an extreme degree

got stinking drunk

Synonyms

Adjective

• fetid
• foul
• frowsty [chiefly British]
• frowsy
• frowzy
• funky
• fusty
• malodorous
• musty
• noisome
• rank
• reeking
• reeky
• ripe
• smelly
• stenchy
• stinky
• strong

Adverb

• achingly
• almighty
• archly
• awful
• awfully
• badly
• beastly
• blisteringly
• bone
• colossally
• corking
• cracking
• damn
• damned
• dang
• deadly
• desperately
• eminently
• enormously
• especially
• ever
• exceedingly
• exceeding
• extra
• extremely
• fabulously
• fantastically
• far
• fiercely
• filthy
• frightfully
• full
• greatly
• heavily
• highly
• hugely
• immensely
• incredibly
• intensely
• jolly
• majorly
• mightily
• mighty
• monstrous [chiefly dialect]
• mortally
• most
• much
• particularly
• passing
• rattling
• real
• really
• right
• roaring
• roaringly
• seriously
• severely
• so
• sore
• sorely
• spanking
• specially
• such
• super
• supremely
• surpassingly
• terribly
• that
• thumping
• too
• unco
• uncommonly
• vastly
• very
• vitally
• way
• whacking
• wicked
• wildly

Choose the Right Synonym for stinking

malodorous, stinking, fetid, noisome, putrid, rank, fusty, musty mean bad-smelling.

malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

prisoners were held in stinking cells

the fetid odor of skunk cabbage

noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter.

the putrid smell of rotting fish

rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.

a fusty attic

the musty odor of a damp cellar

Examples of stinking in a Sentence

Adjective

Put out that stinking cigar.

came home from their trip to find stinking garbage that had been left in the kitchen

Adverb

a huge, showy house that screams, “We're stinking rich!”

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Eventually, more fat, oil, and grease congeal onto the mess and build up into giant stinking globs. —National Geographic, 16 Aug. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1887, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing stinking

• stinking drunk
• stinking rich
• stinking smut