Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to stink
Participle: stunk
Gerund: stinking
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | stink |
| you | stink |
| he;she;it | stinks |
| we | stink |
| you | stink |
| they | stink |
Perfect
| I | have stunk |
| you | have stunk |
| he;she;it | has stunk |
| we | have stunk |
| you | have stunk |
| they | have stunk |
Past
| I | stank; stunk |
| you | stank; stunk |
| he;she;it | stank; stunk |
| we | stank; stunk |
| you | stank; stunk |
| they | stank; stunk |
Pluperfect
| I | had stunk |
| you | had stunk |
| he;she;it | had stunk |
| we | had stunk |
| you | had stunk |
| they | had stunk |
Future
| I | will stink |
| you | will stink |
| he;she;it | will stink |
| we | will stink |
| you | will stink |
| they | will stink |
Future Perfect
| I | will have stunk |
| you | will have stunk |
| he;she;it | will have stunk |
| we | will have stunk |
| you | will have stunk |
| they | will have stunk |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | stink |
| you | stink |
| he;she;it | stink |
| we | stink |
| you | stink |
| they | stink |
Perfect
| I | have stunk |
| you | have stunk |
| he;she;it | have stunk |
| we | have stunk |
| you | have stunk |
| they | have stunk |
Imperfect
| I | stank; stunk |
| you | stank; stunk |
| he;she;it | stank; stunk |
| we | stank; stunk |
| you | stank; stunk |
| they | stank; stunk |
Pluperfect
| I | had stunk |
| you | had stunk |
| he;she;it | had stunk |
| we | had stunk |
| you | had stunk |
| they | had stunk |
Conditional
Present
| I | would stink |
| you | would stink |
| he;she;it | would stink |
| we | would stink |
| you | would stink |
| they | would stink |
Perfect
| I | would have stunk |
| you | would have stunk |
| he;she;it | would have stunk |
| we | would have stunk |
| you | would have stunk |
| they | would have stunk |
Imperative
| you | stink |
| we | Let's stink |
| you | stink |
Verbs similar to 'stink'
shink,
sink,
skink,
slink,
stank,
stick,
sting,
stint,
stonk,
tink,
Additional Information
The form where the 'i' in the stem is replaced with 'u' is used in American English.
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E.
stincan "emit a smell of any kind" (class III strong verb; past tense
stonc), from W.Gmc.
*stenkwanan (cf. O.S.
stincan, O.H.G.
stinkan, Du.
stinken), from the root of stench. O.E.
swote stincan "to smell sweet," but offensive sense began O.E. and was primary by c.1250;
smell now tends the same way. Fig. meaning "be offensive" is from 1225; meaning "be inept" is recorded from 1924. The noun is attested from c.1300; sense of "extensive fuss" first recorded 1812.
Stinking in ref. to "drunk" first attested 1887;
stinking rich dates from 1956. To
stink to high heaven first recorded 1963.
Stinker as a term of abuse (often banteringly) is attested from 1607; earlier
stinkard (c.1600).
2. From Middle English stinken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-, *stegʷ- (“to push, thrust, strike”). Cognate with West Frisian stjonke (“to stink”), Dutch stinken (“to stink”), German stinken (“to stink”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).
3. Compare typologically Russian рази́ть (razítʹ). See: Middle English '
stynken', Old English '
stincan', Proto-Germanic '
*stinkwaną', Dutch '
stinken', German, old spelling '
stinken', Swedish '
stinka', Icelandic '
stökkva'.
Verbs referencing "stink"
Swedish
stinka, English
distinguish, German, old spelling
stinken, Low Saxon stinken, Latin
stinguo.
Sample Sentences
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That movie stinks. I didn't even stay for the end.
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They gave me Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen. I thought it was going to stink, but it didn't. It was a very good book. [1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 24:]
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My French stinks, Langdon thought, but my zodiac iconography is pretty good. Taurus was always the bull. Astrology was a symbolic constant all over the world. [2003, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 19:]
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Improve your golf swing by taking your mate to the driving range. If you're good, you can show off and give her some tips. If you stink, play it for laughs. [2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135:]
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Something stinks about the politician's excuses.
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The parish stank of idolatry, abominable rites were practiced in secret, and in all the bounds there was no one had a more evil name for the black traffic than one Alison Sempill, who bode at the Skerburnfoot. [1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:]