reek
Example Sentences
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No one has ever written an alternate history that didn’t reek of staginess, but Mr. Boyne’s cast comes coated with greasepaint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Disproportionate death sentences may be convincing to those who make clemency decisions, and they reek of unfairness.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
So the two embarked on a survey in the university hostels asking a truly human question: if our sneakers reek, doesn't that ruin the entire experience of using a shoe rack?
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
Grand juries may not go along with prosecutions that reek of vengeance, and trial juries and judges are more likely to resist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024
Mount Doom was burning, and a great reek rising.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Volunteers and relatives of the victims rest under blankets tied to four poles driven into the rubble, which reeks of death.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
By leaving the couple of hours between posts “to me, reeks of some sort of impropriety,” Adami said.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
Honestly, the whole discussion reeks of College Football Brain, that cross-affliction of entitlement and exceptionalism in which the most bizarre circumstances are treated as routine business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
True to its name, it reeks of festering flesh, roughly the size and appearance of an exploded tire made of weathered beef jerky.
From Salon ● May 27, 2025
“The boy reeks of iron. Spends all day handling it, baking it, breathing its smoke. Then comes in here with clever eyes.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
He looked up to find the culprit: tree-shaped air fresheners that reeked of cheap cologne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
She recalled suffering a nosebleed in the heat in a field where there was no shade, as well as working in fields that reeked of chemicals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Others called for her to stay on in the US, with comments that reeked with sarcasm.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2025
It also reeked of “desperation,” per former federal prosecutor Harry Litman.
From Salon ● May 29, 2024
The whole place reeked of mildew and, faintly, of fish.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
Snake is a wonderfully pulpy, instantly iconic creation, an outcast adventurer reeking of sweat and post-Vietnam cynicism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025
Spurs now enter the final few weeks of the window reeking of desperation.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025
But this year, there have been more than a few complaints that the long-awaited year-end data dump was surprisingly "boring," and reeking of AI.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2024
Far from the handsome man she has pictured, he struts in with an “air of cheap assurance” and flashes his trinkets, reeking of cheap cologne, hair coated in bear grease.
From Slate ● May 27, 2024
Thus, as soon as the mayordomo on that ditch, Sparky Pacheco, discovered Seferino Pacheco was flooding his front field around the clock, he came by positively reeking with dire threats.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Vocabulary lists containing reek
The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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Something Smells: From "Malodorous" to "Mephitic" to "It Reeks!"
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Smell Words
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
