“His tongue was a warm stroke right up her center, reeking havoc on her nervous system.”
Poor thing. Although, I had no idea that one’s nervous system had a sense of smell . . .
Ya know . . . in real life, a lot of women think they . . . smell . . . down there. It’s not helping when an author reinforces that idea.
Of course, it’s more likely that the author meant to say wreaking havoc.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Reek | Wreak |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Singular Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for noun: reek Third person present verb: reeks |
Verb, transitive
Third person present verb: wreaks |
| Singular Noun: A foul smell [Chiefly Scottish] Smoke Vapor or steam Verb, intransitive:
To be wet with sweat, blood, etc. To be strongly pervaded with something unpleasant or offensive Verb, transitive:
To expose to or treat with smoke Fumigate |
Verb, transitive: To inflict vengeance, etc. To cause chaos, etc. To cause a large amount of damage or harm To express or gratify (anger, hatred, etc.) [Archaic] To take vengeance for [Archaic] Avenge someone who has been wronged |
| Examples: | |
| Singular Noun: The reek of cattle dung permeated the cottage. Look at the reek from that chimney. The reek from your stinky body tells me it’s been too long since you took a shower. The reek is enough to make your eyes water. Verb, intransitive: Geez, man, your breath reeks! The speeches reeked of anti-Semitism. While temples crash, and towers in ashes reek. Verb, transitive: If power-hungry could smell, he’d reek of it. |
Verb, transitive: We shall wreak havoc on the enemy! “His tongue was a warm stroke right up her center, wreaking havoc on her nervous system.” Torrential rainstorms wreaked havoc yesterday. The environmental damage wreaked by ninety years of phosphate mining is devastating. He was determined to wreak his revenge on the girl who had rejected him. Grant me some knight to wreak me for my son. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: reeking, reeky Adverb: reekingly Noun: reeker |
Noun: wreaker, wreaking |
| History of the Word: | |
| Old English rēocan meaning give out smoke or vapor. It’s related to the Dutch rieken meaning to smell, rook meaning smoke, the German riechen meaning to smell and Rauch meaning smoke.
The noun rēc meaning smoke is of Germanic origin. |
Old English wrecan meaning drive (out) or avenge is of Germanic origin; it’s also related to the Dutch wreken and the German rächen. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Reek versus Wreak
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits
Air Force Wrestlers, Colorado, by Joshua Armstrong is in the public domain courtesy of the US Air Force Academy, via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service and Public Domain Media.
Revised as of 17 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie