Other forms: reeks, reeking, reeked
To reek is to smell very strongly and badly. Reek of smoke, the place reeks, reeking of drink.
It always takes of and always means a bad smell. Figuratively it means giving off an unmistakable and unwelcome impression: the whole thing reeks of a cover-up. Note that the older sense is simply to give off smoke — Auld Reekie is the old nickname for Edinburgh, from its chimneys — and the narrowing to a bad smell is comparatively recent.
1verbreekTo smell very strongly and badly.
“His trainers reeked after the long run.”
2verbgiveTo give off an unwelcome impression.
“The whole deal reeks of corruption.”
reek is a strong smell.
Old English rec meant smoke, and the Dutch rook and German Rauch still do. English narrowed it to a strong bad smell, and Auld Reekie keeps the old meaning.
Proto-Indo-European
*rowgi-
Proto-Germanic
*raukiz
Proto-West Germanic
*rauki
Old English
rēc
Middle English
rek
English, today
reek
Built from
From Middle English rek, reke (“smoke”), from Old English rēc, from Proto-West Germanic rauki, from Proto-Germanic raukiz, from Proto-Indo-European rowgi-. Cognate with West Frisian reek, riik, Dutch rook (“smoke”), Low German Röök, German Rauch (“smoke”), Danish røg (“smoke”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk røyk (“smoke”), Swedish rök (“smoke”), Faroese roykur (“smoke”), Icelandic reykur (“smoke”); also Lithuanian rū̃kti (“to smoke”), rū̃kas (“smoke, fog”), Albanian regj (“to tan”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Texture & Touch