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Odour vs Stench - What's the difference?

odour | stench |

Stench is a antonym of odour.

Stench is a synonym of odour.



As nouns the difference between odour and stench

is that odour is any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume while stench is a strong foul smell, a stink.

As a verb stench is

to cause to emit a disagreeable odour; to cause to stink.

odour

English

Alternative forms

* odor (US)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume.
  • Something which produces a scent; incense, a perfume.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Luke XXIV:
    • On the morow after the saboth, erly in the mornynge, they cam vnto the toumbe and brought the odoures whych they had prepared, and other wemen wyth them.

    Derived terms

    * body odour, body odor * deodorant * deodorise, deodorize * odoriferous * odourless

    stench

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • a strong foul smell, a stink
  • (figurative) a foul quality
    • the stench of political corruption
  • (obsolete) A smell or odour, not necessarily bad.
  • * Dryden
    • Clouds of savoury stench involve the sky.

    Synonyms

    * (disagreeable smell) (l), (l) (Commonwealth)

    Antonyms

    * (disagreeable smell) (l), (l), (l)

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To cause to emit a disagreeable odour; to cause to stink.
    • (Young)
  • To stanch.
    • (Harvey)