What does stank mean?
Stank is the past tense and past participle of “stink.” It describes the presence or emission of a strong, unpleasant odor, as in “the passage stank of sewage” or “his clothes stank of smoke.” Because “stink” is already vivid and often dismissive, “stank” can carry an equally strong sense of foulness and unpleasantness. In figurative contexts, it may suggest that something appears corrupt, deceitful, or morally offensive: “the proposal stank of political manipulation.” The verb is standard in both British and American English and is especially natural with prepositions such as “of,” while “stank up the place” is a more informal, emphatic expression. Stank can also occur as a rare or dialectal noun meaning a foul smell or stench, but its dominant modern use is as an irregular past form of “stink.”
The past tense and past participle of stink: to have given off or become filled with an offensive odor.
"The storeroom stank of mildew and old boxes."
The form is standard in British and American English. It may also describe something that seems morally corrupt or dishonorable.
A foul smell; a stench.
"A stank of fish rose from the alley."
This noun sense is rare and chiefly archaic or dialectal in modern English.
The plural is rare and occurs chiefly in archaic or dialectal usage.
"Foul stanks drifted up from the cellar."
Unlike most English verbs, this one keeps an irregular past tense ending: the smell did not “stanked”—it stank.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does stank come from?
The verb descends from Old English stincan, meaning “to stink,” through the Middle English strong verb stonken. Its modern irregular past tense and past participle stank reflect that historical grammatical pattern. Related forms include “stink” and “stench,” while cognates occur in Dutch stanken and German stinken.
Related word forms
How stank is actually used
In modern standard English, “stank” is the normal past tense and past participle of “stink”; “stinked” is uncommon and usually sounds nonstandard. The word can also be used figuratively for something morally tainted or dishonest.