make a stink

verb

"make-a-stink" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“make a stink” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To complain; to demand attention or remedy for a problem.

Corpus desk

Index EN-make-a-stink · make a stink · English

make a stink · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for make a stink
PropertyValue
Headwordmake a stink
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “make a stink” in English

make a stinksits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

make a stink is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To complain; to demand attention or remedy for a problem.".

No misspelling variants are generated for make a stink in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is make a stink, spelled M-A-K-E- -A- -S-T-I-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To complain; to demand attention or remedy for a problem.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how make a stink appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If nothing happens when you ask nicely, make a stink until something gets done.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "make a stink"?
"make a stink" is spelled M-A-K-E- -A- -S-T-I-N-K.
What does "make a stink" mean?
As a verb, "make a stink" means: To complain; to demand attention or remedy for a problem.
What language does "make a stink" come from?
"make a stink" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list