reek

/rik/

/rik/

Other forms: reeking; reeked; reeks

It smells absolutely rotten and offensive. Birds are falling from the sky because of the fumes. You might throw up from one whiff. Whatever it is, it reeks.

Shakespeare famously wrote about the "breath that from my mistress reeks," but that's not a nice way to talk about a girlfriend. The word usually describes smells, but can also be used to suggest something fishy, as in "the suspicious transactions reeked of mob involvement." But noses everywhere agree: Whether it's coming from your sneakers or from the aftermath of a shady deal, if something reeks — it stinks to high heaven.

Definitions of reek

1. verb

   give off smoke, fumes, warm vapour, steam, etc.
   “Marshes reeking in the sun”

   type of:

   emit, give off, give out

   give off, send forth, or discharge; as of light, heat, or radiation, vapor, etc.
2. verb

   smell badly and offensively
   “The building reeks of smoke”

   synonyms: stink

   type of:

   smell

   smell bad
3. noun

   a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
   synonyms: fetor, foetor, malodor, malodour, mephitis, stench, stink

   types:

   niff, pong

   an unpleasant smell

   type of:

   odor, odour, olfactory perception, olfactory sensation, smell

   the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
4. verb

   have an element suggestive (of something)
   synonyms: smack, smell

   type of:

   evoke, paint a picture, suggest

   call to mind
5. verb

   be wet with sweat or blood, as of one's face
   synonyms: fume

   type of:

   exudate, exude, ooze, ooze out, transude

   release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities