Meaning & use
stinked
Last updated
“stinked” is a form of “stink”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbintransitiveinformal
A nonstandard past form of stink, meaning gave off a strong unpleasant smell.
Grammar: No object; standard past forms are stank and stunk: the fridge stank.
Patterns
- stinked of something
Young children sometimes say the old shoes stinked, using a regular -ed ending.
The learner wrote that the room stinked of smoke, and the teacher corrected it to stank.
In the story, the character says the milk stinked, which shows how a child talks.
Word forms
| standard past tense | stank |
|---|---|
| past participle | stunk |
| -ing form | stinking |
Common combinations
- it stinked (nonstandard)
- The kitchen stinked, he said; the standard form is stank.
- stinked of garlic (nonstandard)
- A child might say the lunchbox stinked of garlic.
- stank (standard)
- The kitchen stank of burnt toast.
- had stunk (standard)
- The room had stunk for days.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stank
- Stank is the standard past tense and should be used in careful writing.
- smelled bad
- Smelled bad is neutral and gentler than the harsher stank.
- reeked
- Reeked suggests an even stronger, more overpowering smell.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: stinked or stank?
stinked vs stank
Stank is the correct simple past; stinked is a regular-ending error often made by children and learners.
Practice
Which is the standard past tense of stink?
Choose one answer.
Stank is the standard past tense. Stinked is a regular-ending error, and stinks is present tense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stinked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.