What does "reek" mean?
A strong unpleasant smell.
Reek
/riːk/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A strong unpleasant smell.
- Grammar: reek is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: smell, stench, stink, stink.
- Useful contrasts: accuracy, aroma, clarity.
- Usage evidence: Tell me something interesting about garlic because you reek of it.
How to use "reek"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "reek" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "reek" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "reek" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "reek" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "reek" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "smell" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "reek", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A strong unpleasant smell. countable, uncountable
- 2 A pile, a heap (as of snow, hay, etc).
"The fen "dikes" have been filled-in in some districts; and the black reeks remind one of snow-reeks, except for their blackness."
- 3 A hill; a mountain. Ireland
- 4 a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant wordnet
- 5 Vapour; steam; smoke; fume. Scotland, countable, uncountable
"Thou mightst as well say, I loue to walke by the Counter-gate, which is as hatefull to me, as the reeke of a Lime-kill."
Verb
- 1 To have or give off a strong, unpleasant smell. intransitive
"You reek of perfume."
- 2 be wet with sweat or blood, as of one's face wordnet
- 3 To be evidently associated with something unpleasant. figuratively, intransitive
"The boss appointing his nephew as a director reeks of nepotism."
- 4 smell badly and offensively wordnet
- 5 To be emitted or exhaled, emanate, as of vapour or perfume. archaic, intransitive
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 have an element suggestive (of something) wordnet
- 7 To emit smoke or vapour; to steam. archaic, intransitive
"[…] innumerable Legions of his Angels of Light, the warm gleames of whose presence is able to make the Mountains to reek and smoak, and to awake that fiery principle that lies dormient in the Earth into a devouring flame."
- 8 give off smoke, fumes, warm vapour, steam, etc. wordnet
- 9 To cause (something) to smell. rare, transitive
"The slaughter of lambs in offering reeked the fore-courts of the Temple."
- 10 To fall in such a way (e.g. particularly finely or heavily) as to resemble smoke. archaic
"... the snow still darkens the air, and reeks along the curling wreaths, as if each were a furnace."
Example
"Tell me something interesting about garlic because you reek of it."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "reek"?
Common synonyms include: smell, stench, stink, stink, aerate, aerify.
How do you use "reek" in a sentence?
Tell me something interesting about garlic because you reek of it.
How do you pronounce "reek"?
Pronounced /riːk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English rek, reke (“smoke”), from Old English rēc, from Proto-West Germanic *rauki, from Proto-Germanic *raukiz, from Proto-Indo-European *rowgi-. See also West Frisian reek, riik, Dutch rook, Low German Röök, German Rauch, Danish røg, Norwegian Bokmål røyk; also Lithuanian rū̃kti (“to smoke”), rū̃kas (“smoke, fog”), Albanian regj (“to tan”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English reken (“to smoke”), from Old English rēocan, from Proto-West Germanic *reukan, from Proto-Germanic *reukaną, from Proto-Indo-European *rougi-. See above. Related to Dutch ruiken, Low German rüken, German riechen, Danish ryge, Swedish ryka.
Etymology 3
From Middle English reke (“heap, pile”), from Old English hrēac.
Etymology 4
Probably a transferred use (after Irish cruach (“stack (of corn), pile, mountain, hill”)) of a variant of rick, with which it is cognate.