a real stinker
1
8.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
un verdadero desastre
- Critics agree that the latest album from the band is a real stinker, failing to impress with its bland sound.
Examples
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There was a day when you really had to replace the stock Android keyboard, which was a real stinker.
Blog text (13) -
"Everyone involved wants to do it, but Warner Bros. is a real stinker," Bell said.
Blog text (16) -
You're a real stinker.
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The movie was supposed to be great, but it turned out to be a real stinker and left the audience disappointed.
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After trying the new restaurant, I can confidently say it was a real stinker, and I won't be returning.
Synonyms
A very bad taste or smell that makes you want to spit
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from the intensifier 'real' (very/really) plus 'stinker' (an unpleasant or defective thing/person), so its meaning 'something very bad or unpleasant' follows directly from the constituents. This is a common, transparent intensifier + noun pattern found across languages and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
A real stinker comes from the image of a stinker that actually 'stinks'—like rotten food or trash with a strong bad smell that makes people leave. So calling something a real stinker means it was 'very bad or unpleasant'.