stench
/stɛn(t)ʃ
/noun
A strong and very unpleasant smell: the stench of rotting fish...
- I lifted my jacket to my nose for a sniff - I could still smell the acrid stench of the gas.
- As unpleasant as it may seem, the dwellers had become accustomed to their surroundings and the unpleasant odor and stenches of the dirt, grim, mud, and rat droppings.
- As he leapt to a tall tree that had been burnt on one side, he could smell a terrible stench.
Synonyms
stink, bad smell, foul smell, reek, miasma, effluvium
British informal niff, pong, whiff, hum
Scottish informal guff
North American informal funk
rare mephitis, malodour, fetor, noisomeness
Origin
Old English stenc 'smell', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stank, German Gestank, also to the verb stink.
stink from Old English:
Old English stincan ‘stink and its close relative stenc ‘smell’ source of stench both go back to a common Germanic root.