# stinking

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/ · frequency rank #27,658

## Definitions
1. Having a pungent smell.
2. Very bad and undesirable.
3. Very drunk.
4. An intensifier, a hypallage.

## Etymology
From Middle English stynkynge, stinkinge, stinkinde, stinkende, stynkande, stynkand, from Old English stincende, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwandz (“stinking”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną (“to stink”), equivalent to stink + -ing. Cognate with Dutch stinkend (“stinking, stinky”), German stinkend (“stinking, stinky”), Danish stinkende (“stinking, stinky”), Norwegian stinkende (“stinking, stinky”).

## Easily confused with
- **stoning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stoning)
- **stunning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stunning)
- **striking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-striking)
- **swinging** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-swinging)
- **stirring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stirring)
- **stocking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stocking)
- **Stirling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stirling)
- **stroking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stroking)
- **stunting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stunting)
- **stringing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stinking-vs-stringing)
- **singing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/singing-vs-stinking)
- **shining** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shining-vs-stinking)
- **sinking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sinking-vs-stinking)
- **staking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staking-vs-stinking)
- **spiking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spiking-vs-stinking)
- **sinning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sinning-vs-stinking)
- **standing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/standing-vs-stinking)
- **sticking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sticking-vs-stinking)
- **spinning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spinning-vs-stinking)
- **stalking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stalking-vs-stinking)

## Common misspellings (13)
`sitnking`, `sstinking`, `stikning`, `stinikng`, `stinkign`, `stinkingg`, `stinkinng`, `stinkking`, `stinknig`, `stinnking`, `stniking`, `sttinking`, `tsinking`

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