How to Say "He Stinks" in Spanish

apesta

/apesta/from spelling rules

The phrase 'he stinks' in Spanish is translated as apesta.

This phrase is used to say that a person has a very unpleasant body odor.

Which one should you use?

Apesta is much stronger and more blunt than huele mal, which is a more polite way to say someone smells bad.

The form apesta is the third-person singular conjugation of the verb apestar, meaning it can be used to say 'he stinks', 'she stinks' or 'it stinks'.

/apesta/

While apesta describes a physical smell, it is frequently used as slang to say a person is terrible at a skill or a sport. For example, saying apesta jugando al fútbol means the person is awful at playing football.
Spanish has a specific word pestilencia for a powerful stink, which shares a root with the English word 'pestilence'.
To soften the blow of apesta, speakers often use the diminutive apestita, though this can sometimes sound sarcastically mocking rather than polite.

Cuando él no se baña, huele mal.
When he doesn't shower, he stinks.
Después de hacer ejercicio intenso, él siempre tiene un mal olor.
After intense exercise, he always has a bad odor.
Luego de jugar fútbol sin ducharse, él apesta.
After playing soccer without showering, he stinks.
Después de un día duro de trabajo, él huele a rayos.
After a hard day of work, he really stinks.
Él apesta a sudor.
He stinks of sweat.
Ese chico apesta.
That boy stinks.
¡Qué horror, él apesta!
How horrible, he stinks!
No te acerques, él apesta mucho.
Don't go near him, he stinks a lot.

Javier and Sofía are talking about a teammate.

Sources

IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.

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