stinky
Americanadjective
-
having a foul smell
-
informal unpleasant or disgusting
-
informal of poor quality; contemptible
Etymology
Origin of stinky
Explanation
Stinky things smell bad. If your gym uniform is particularly stinky after a game of volleyball, you should probably wash it. You might describe the gorgonzola cheese your sister loves as stinky. She, on the other hand, may object to your favorite perfume, describing it as stinky. Besides bad odors, the informal adjective stinky can also describe generally bad or rotten things: "You did a stinky job of cleaning the kitchen after you baked all that bread. There's flour everywhere!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Accompanied by specially-trained truffle dogs, foodies get dirt under their nails as they dig for these stinky “black diamonds.”
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
However, the condiment's polarising taste has landed it in the Disgusting Food Museum in Sweden - alongside natto, stinky tofu and monkey brains.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
I’ve eaten stinky socks, rotten eggs and old bandages — thanks to a cruel Jelly Belly Bean Boozled challenge in junior high.
From Salon • Aug. 24, 2025
He’s a pretty normal kid: weight bench, acne, enough stinky hormones that Piper gifts him a can of cheap body spray.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2025
She kept putting her right hand in the air and waving it in front of her face like she was fanning away a stinky burp.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.