Stanky

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Giving off a strong, foul odor that is unpleasant to smell
2. Smelling bad in a rank, offensive way, as something left unwashed or rotting would
3. Emitting a sickening, pungent stench that makes people want to step away

Etymology: "Stanky" is about as plain as English word-building gets: it is "stank," the past tense of "stink," with the suffix "-y" added to turn it into an adjective. The "-y" ending is the same one found in "dusty," "milky," and "sandy," meaning "full of" or "having the qualities of" whatever comes before it. So a stanky room is one full of stink. The base word has its own tangle. "Stink" comes from Old English "stincan," meaning to emit a smell of any kind, pleasant or not, which is why older English could speak of a sweet stink without contradiction. Only later did the word narrow to mean an unpleasant odour. "Stanky" inherits that narrowed, purely offensive sense, so its meaning is closer to "rank" or "rotten" than to anything neutral.

Synonyms: stinky, smelly, rank, foul, fetid

Antonyms: fragrant, odorless, perfumed