stench
pronunciation
How to pronounce stench in British English:
UK [stentʃ]
How to pronounce stench in American English:
US [stɛntʃ]
-
- Noun:
- a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
Word Origin
- stench
- stench: see stink
- stench (n.)
- Old English stenc "a smell, odor, scent, fragrance" (either pleasant or unpleasant), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (cognates: Old Saxon stanc, Old High German stanch, German stank). Related to stincan "emit a smell" (see stink (v.)) as drench is to drink. It tended toward "bad smell" in Old English (as a verb, only with this sense), and the notion of "evil smell" has predominated since c. 1200.
Example
- 1. But you can put that stench in its place .
- 2. The streets seem calm , and are now largely free of corpses and their stench .
- 3. This sanctimonious stench wafts from time to time , allowing us to hold our noses in the air and feel good about ourselves . Then it evaporates just as quickly .
- 4. Of course , mayor bloomberg covered the stench of defeat in a floral spray of spin .
- 5. I stayed at a hostel in the howrah slums and regretted that my camera could record only images , not the equally memorable stench .