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
: 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
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
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
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.
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
Dictionary Entries Near stinking
Cite this Entry
“Stinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stinking. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share