stench

/stɛntʃ/

/stɛntʃ/

Other forms: stenches

When you pass a dump, you might hold your nose and say, "Oh, I can't handle the stench." A stench is a bad smell.

Stench can also be used metaphorically. If it is discovered that many members of a police force have been taking money from mob bosses so that they can continue their life of crime, a new chief may be brought in to remove the stench of corruption from the office. In either sense, stench is the kind of smell that takes work to get rid of.

Definitions of stench

1. noun

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