stanky

adj

"stanky" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stanky” is uncommon English (frequency #91,017 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,017
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - smelly; stinky

Corpus desk

Index EN-stanky · stanky · English

stanky · rank #91,017 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,017
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stap

Nearest frequency peer: stap (+2 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “stanky”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “stanky” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stanky
PropertyValue
Headwordstanky
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters6
Frequency rank#91,017
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stanky” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).stankyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “stap” (#91,019), “squee” (#91,013), “splanchnic” (#91,011). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stanky” is #91,017. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stanky is uncommon English at frequency #91,017 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "smelly; stinky".

Zero misspellings are on record for stanky in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From stank + -y. The correct English form is stanky, spelled S-T-A-N-K-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    smelly; stinky

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A gross-gutted, bulb-nosed, bourbon-stanky Boston flatfoot in plain clothes wrinkled white sox, with a race track tip-sheet stuffed in his back pocket trying real hard to mingle unnoticed at an elegant Buddies "do" to glean inside-dope.
  2. As fun as fish are to watch, they require a lot of fish food, and fish food makes fish poop, and pooping fish make for a stanky tank after too long. Just say no to stanky tanks.

Etymology

From stank + -y.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stanky"?
"stanky" is spelled S-T-A-N-K-Y.
What does "stanky" mean?
As an adjective, "stanky" means: smelly; stinky
What is the origin of the word "stanky"?
From stank + -y. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stanky", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list