stinker of an idea
- noun
- Informal
:
idea pésima
- Everyone agreed that building a highway through the park was a stinker of an idea.
Examples
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That proposal turned out to be a stinker of an idea from the start.
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He admitted later that his suggestion was truly a stinker of an idea.
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That was a real stinker of an idea!
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I think this plan is a stinker of an idea.
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Everyone agreed that building a highway through the park was a stinker of an idea.
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He admitted later that his suggestion was truly a stinker of an idea.
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That proposal turned out to be a stinker of an idea from the start.
Synonyms
246
2.3
A choice or plan that will probably cause problems
A foolish idea that probably will not work
An idea or plan that has no chance of success
An idea that is not fully developed
An unimportant suggestion that people do not take seriously
Antonyms
How Bad
- Informal
246
2.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very bad or poorly conceived idea' is directly derivable from combining 'stinker' (something defective or unsatisfactory) with 'idea' via the regular 'X of Y' modifier pattern. Although 'stinker' is informal/slang, its negative evaluative force is compositional here, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the phrase's meaning.
Etymology
Stinker of an idea comes from a simple picture: a stinker is something that smells very bad, so calling an idea a 'stinker' puts the idea next to a rotten thing people avoid. That's why it means 'an idea that is very bad or poorly conceived'.