Meanings
nounstench (plural stenches)
plural stenches
- obsoleteA smell or odour, not necessarily bad.
Black bulls, and bearded goats on altars lie; / And clouds of ſav'ry ſtench involve the ſky.
a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 432
Synonyms & antonyms
Broader
More synonyms by meaning
nouna distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*stengʷ-“to push, thrust”
- Proto-Germanic*stankwiz“smell, fragrance, odor”
- Old Englishstenċ“stench, odor, fragrance”
- Middle Englishstench
- Englishstench
From Middle English stench, from Old English stenċ (“stench, odor, fragrance”), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (“smell, fragrance, odor”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”). Cognate with Dutch stank (“stench, odor”), German Stank, Gestank (“stench, odor, smell”), Danish stank (“stench”), Swedish stank (“stench”), Icelandic stækja (“stench”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βρῶμος, δυσωδία
- βρῶμος (brômos)a strong foul smell, a stink
- δυσωδία (dusōdía)a strong foul smell, a stink
- δυσοσμία (dusosmía)a strong foul smell, a stink
Arabic نَتَانَة
- نَتَانَة (natāna)a strong foul smell, a stink
Basque kirats
- kiratsa strong foul smell, a stink
Bulgarian смрад, воня́
- смрад (smrad)a strong foul smell, a stink
- воня́ (vonjá)a strong foul smell, a stink
Catalan pudor, tuf
- pudora strong foul smell, a stink
- tufa strong foul smell, a stink
- feruma strong foul smell, a stink
Chinese Cantonese 惡臭 /恶臭
- 惡臭 /恶臭 (ok³ cau³)a strong foul smell, a stink
Chinese Mandarin 惡臭 /恶臭, 臭
- 惡臭 /恶臭 (èchòu)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭 (chòu)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 腐臭 (fǔchòu)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭氣 /臭气 (chòuqì)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭味 (chòuwèi)a strong foul smell, a stink
Czech zápach, smrad
- zápacha strong foul smell, a stink
- smrada strong foul smell, a stink
Danish stank
- stanka strong foul smell, a stink
Dutch stank
- stanka strong foul smell, a stink
Esperanto fetoro
- fetoroa strong foul smell, a stink
Finnish löyhkä, lemu
- löyhkäa strong foul smell, a stink
- lemua strong foul smell, a stink
French puanteur
- puanteura strong foul smell, a stink
German Gestank
- Gestanka strong foul smell, a stink
Greek μπόχα
- μπόχα (bócha)a strong foul smell, a stink
Hebrew סֵרָחוֹן, צַחֲנָה
- סֵרָחוֹן (seraẖón)a strong foul smell, a stink
- צַחֲנָה (tzaẖaná)a strong foul smell, a stink
Hindi बास, दुर्गंध
- बास (bās)a strong foul smell, a stink
- दुर्गंध (durgandh)a strong foul smell, a stink
- बदबू (badbū)a strong foul smell, a stink
- गंध (gandh)a strong foul smell, a stink
- बू (bū)a strong foul smell, a stink
Hungarian bűz
- bűza strong foul smell, a stink
Irish tuth, bréantas
- tutha strong foul smell, a stink
- bréantasa strong foul smell, a stink
- bréinea strong foul smell, a stink
- mosara strong foul smell, a stink
- drochbholadha strong foul smell, a stink
Italian fetore, puzza
- fetorea strong foul smell, a stink
- puzzaa strong foul smell, a stink
Japanese 悪臭, 臭い
- 悪臭 (akushū)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭い (nioi)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭気 (shūki)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 臭味 (shūmi)a strong foul smell, a stink
Korean 악취, 취기
- 악취 (akchwi)a strong foul smell, a stink
- 취기 (chwigi)a strong foul smell, a stink
Latin paedor, foetor
- paedora strong foul smell, a stink
- foetora strong foul smell, a stink
Latvian smārds
- smārdsa strong foul smell, a stink
Māori piro, pirau
- piroa strong foul smell, a stink
- piraua strong foul smell, a stink
- haungaa strong foul smell, a stink
- kehakehaa strong foul smell, a stink
- pūhongaa strong foul smell, a stink
Norwegian Bokmål stank
- stanka strong foul smell, a stink
Persian گند
- گند (gand)a strong foul smell, a stink
Polish fetor, smród
- fetora strong foul smell, a stink
- smróda strong foul smell, a stink
Portuguese fedor
- fedora strong foul smell, a stink
Romanian duhoare, putoare
- duhoarea strong foul smell, a stink
- putoarea strong foul smell, a stink
Russian вонь, смрад
- вонь (vonʹ)a strong foul smell, a stink
- смрад (smrad)a strong foul smell, a stink
- злово́ние (zlovónije)a strong foul smell, a stink
Slovak zápach, smrad
- zápacha strong foul smell, a stink
- smrada strong foul smell, a stink
Spanish hedor, fetidez
- hedora strong foul smell, a stink
- fetideza strong foul smell, a stink
- pestea strong foul smell, a stink
- tufoa strong foul smell, a stink
- fetora strong foul smell, a stink
- hediondeza strong foul smell, a stink
- jedora strong foul smell, a stink
- jedionderaa strong foul smell, a stink
- pestilenciaa strong foul smell, a stink
- chuchaa strong foul smell, a stink
- pécoraa strong foul smell, a stink
Swedish stank
- stanka strong foul smell, a stink
Tagalog bansiw
- bansiwa strong foul smell, a stink
Tamil நாற்றம், கப்பு
- நாற்றம் (nāṟṟam)a strong foul smell, a stink
- கப்பு (kappu)a strong foul smell, a stink
Turkish kötü koku, pis koku
- kötü kokua strong foul smell, a stink
- pis kokua strong foul smell, a stink
- ufuneta strong foul smell, a stink
Ukrainian сморі́д, вонь
- сморі́д (smoríd)a strong foul smell, a stink
- вонь (vonʹ)a strong foul smell, a stink
Yiddish געסרחה, אַוויר
- געסרחה (gesrokhe)a strong foul smell, a stink
- אַוויר (aver)a strong foul smell, a stink
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with stench
frenchbenchwrenchtrenchworkbenchquenchmenschdenchdrenchtenchclenchentrenchhenchretrenchbentshblenchdog bone wrenchkenchnut wrenchpardon my Frenchring wrenchscrew wrenchunclench
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
stench. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stench
MLA
“stench.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stench. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stench,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stench.
Source: stench on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.