A stench is a very strong and disgusting smell. Not unpleasant — genuinely bad.
It is the strongest word in the family, since a smell is neutral, an odour is faintly clinical, a stink is bad and a stench is worse. It suits drains, rot and anything long dead. The word takes of. There is a figurative use in writing about scandal, since the stench of corruption is a fixed phrase and implies something that cannot be hidden.
1nounstenchA very strong and unpleasant smell.
“The stench from the bins reached the top of the street.”
Proto-Indo-European
*stengʷ- — to push, thrust
Proto-Germanic
*stankwiz — smell, fragrance, odor
Old English
stenċ — stench, odor, fragrance
Middle English
stench
English, today
stench
From Middle English stench, from Old English stenċ (“stench, odor, fragrance”), from Proto-Germanic stankwiz (“smell, fragrance, odor”), from Proto-Indo-European stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”). Cognate with Dutch stank (“stench, odor”), German Stank, Gestank (“stench, odor, smell”), Danish stank (“stench”), Swedish stank (“stench”), Icelandic stækja (“stench”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove, Texture & Touch
First appears in chapter 13 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word