reek

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

If that doesn’t reek of a corporate attempt to get people hooked, I don’t know what does.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2025

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

The reek of the spoiled meat was too strong.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Gibney is renowned for taking on big money, corruption and anything else that reeks of injustice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

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

In the dressing station there is great activity: it reeks as ever of carbolic, pus, and sweat.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

He looked up to find the culprit: tree-shaped air fresheners that reeked of cheap cologne.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

By late May, a judge declared the indictment a bad-faith effort that reeked of vindictive prosecution and dismissed it.

From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026

After retreating to my car, which reeked of smoke, for a brief break the morning after the fires erupted, I got a message from my editor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2025

It was filthy, reeked of paint, and had no kitchen, mattresses, or water.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2024

Despite the sputtering light, it was a dim and smoky place that reeked of bad ale, stale bread, and sour wine.

From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi

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

If you’re not keen on slathering animal fat all over your face and reeking of beef, there are a few alternatives that promise similar results and smell much better.

From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025

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

She drank a second cup, glad that it was lukewarm so she could gulp it down, then she made use of a reeking seatless lavatory across a cobbled courtyard behind the cafe.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan