# stink

> English word · Verb · IPA /stɪŋk/ · frequency rank #15,922

## Definitions
1. To have a strong bad smell.
2. To be greatly inferior; to perform badly.
3. To give an impression of dishonesty, untruth, or sin.
4. To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.

## Etymology
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 stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).

## Easily confused with
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stir)
- **sunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-sunk)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stun)
- **stock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stock)
- **stone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stone)
- **stuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stuck)
- **swing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-swing)
- **stunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stunt)
- **stint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stint)
- **suing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-suing)
- **swine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-swine)
- **stony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stony)
- **stung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stung)
- **stork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stork)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stipe)
- **swank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-swank)
- **string** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-string)
- **stinks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stinks)
- **stinky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stink-vs-stinky)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sin-vs-stink)

## Common misspellings (8)
`sitnk`, `sstink`, `stikn`, `stinkk`, `stinnk`, `stnik`, `sttink`, `tsink`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stink