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Another word for smell

a-z
Verb

  1. To perceive with the olfactory sense

      1. (--- Informal) To miss completely when attempting to hit something, as a golf ball, with a swinging motion
      2. To blow or move in puffs, as in smoking
      3. To inhale through the nose; sniff:
      1. To use or inhale snuff.
      2. To inhale (something) audibly through the nose; sniff.
      3. To draw in through the nose; inhale strongly; sniff
      1. To draw in air through the nose with enough force to be heard, as in clearing the nose, smelling something, or expressing contempt or skepticism
      2. To breathe in forcibly through the nose; draw in or inhale nasally
      3. To inhale forcibly through the nose.
      1. To hunt prey by means of the sense of smell. Used of hounds.
      2. To suspect or detect:
      3. To fill with a pleasant odor; perfume:
      1. To make or push (a way, etc.) cautiously or slowly with the front forward
      2. To touch or rub with the nose
      3. To push with the nose
    Idioms:
    See also:

    smells

  2. To have or give off a foul odor

    Idioms:
    See also:

    smells

  3. To have a particular flavor or suggestion of something

      1. (Archaic) To appreciate or enjoy.
      2. To have a sensation, limited experience, or anticipating sense (of something)
      3. To detect or distinguish the flavor of by the sense of taste
      1. To serve as or provide a motive for; prompt or demand:
      2. To mention as something to think over, act on, etc.; bring to the mind for consideration
      3. To offer for consideration or action; propose:
      1. To press (the lips) together and part them suddenly so as to make a smack
      2. To press together and open (the lips) quickly and noisily, as in eating or tasting.
      3. To give an indication; be suggestive. Often used with of:
      1. To taste or smell, especially with pleasure:
      2. To have a particular taste or smell:
      3. To taste or smell, esp. with relish
    See also:

    suggest

Noun

  1. The sense by which odors are perceived

    See also:

    smells

  2. The quality of something that may be perceived by the olfactory sense

      1. The sense of smell:
      2. A smell; odor
      3. The trail of a hunted animal or fugitive:
      1. That characteristic of a substance which makes it perceptible to the sense of smell
      2. A smell, whether pleasant or unpleasant; fragrance, stench, etc.
      3. A quality of something that is perceived by the sense of smell:
      1. A characteristic, usually pleasant odor, as of a plant, spice, or food:
      2. A pleasant, often spicy odor; fragrance, as of a plant, a wine, cooking, etc.
      3. Any smell or odor
    See also:

    smells

  3. A general impression produced by a predominant quality or characteristic

      1. A general quality, effect, or atmosphere:
      2. A vocal or musical sound
      3. The simple or fundamental tone of a musical sound as distinguished from its overtones
      1. A particular state of mind or emotion:
      2. (Gram.) A characteristic of verbs that involves the speaker's attitude toward the action expressed, indicating whether this is regarded as a fact (indicative mood), as a matter of supposition, desire, possibility, etc. (subjunctive mood), or as a command (imperative mood); also, an analytic category based on this characteristic (mood is shown by inflection, as in Latin, or analytically with auxiliaries, as English may, might, should, or by both)
      3. A predominant or pervading feeling, spirit, or tone
      1. A sensation experienced through this sense:
      2. Appreciative regard or understanding:
      3. Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel:
      1. The act of feeling; perception by the senses
      2. The nature of a thing as perceived through touch
      3. Perception by touch or by sensation of the skin:
      1. A sensation, as of a cold breeze or a bright light, that precedes the onset of certain disorders, such as an epileptic seizure or an attack of migraine.
      2. A particular atmosphere or quality that seems to arise from and surround a person or thing
      3. A field of energy thought by some to emanate from all things in nature and to be visible to certain persons with psychic powers
      1. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body, especially the one surrounding the earth, and retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.
      2. An interesting, often exotic, effect produced by decoration, furnishings, etc.
      3. The dominant tone or mood of a work of art.
      1. The special atmosphere or mood created by a particular environment:
      1. A distinctive quality or appearance; an aura:
      2. The general environment or condition, as in attitudes and ideas:
      3. An outward appearance; general impression or feeling given by something
    See also:

    be

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for smell

Noun

  1. A pleasant smell

      1. A heavy, gaseous isotope that results from the decay of a radioactive element
      2. That which issues, flows, or proceeds from any object as a source; efflux; an effluence; as, perfume is an emanation from a flower.
      3. Something that comes forth from a source; thing emitted
      1. A visible mark, such as a footprint, made or left by the passage of a person, animal, or thing.
      2. An act of researching or ascertaining the origin or location of something:
      3. Evidence or an indication of the former presence or existence of something; a vestige:
      1. A mark, footprint, scent, etc. left by a person, animal, or thing that has passed
      2. A mark, trace, course, or path left by a moving body.
      3. The scent of a person or animal:
      1. A small cluster or arrangement of flowers.
      2. A fragrant smell, especially of a wine or liqueur.
      3. The scent of a particular wine.
      1. A quality that can be perceived by the olfactory sense:
      2. A characteristic, usually pleasant odor, as of a plant, spice, or food:
      3. A pleasant, often spicy odor; fragrance, as of a plant, a wine, cooking, etc.
      1. A perfume
      2. A substance that keeps, in concentrated form, the flavor, fragrance, or other properties of the plant, drug, food, etc. from which it is extracted; essential oil
      3. A perfume or scent.
      1. The quality or state of being redolent.
      2. A characteristic or distinctive odor:
      3. (Countable) An evocative fragrance
      1. Something exhaled, as air, steam, or an odor; emanation; effluvium
      2. The act or process of exhaling, or sending forth in the form of steam or vapor; evaporation.
      3. That which is exhaled, or which rises in the form of vapor, fume, or steam; effluvium; emanation; as, exhalations from the earth or flowers, decaying matter, etc.
      1. A pleasing smell or odor; sweet scent, as of flowers; fragrance
      2. A pleasing, agreeable scent or odor.
      3. A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor; fragrance; aroma.
      1. The sense of smell:
      2. A manufactured fluid preparation used to give fragrance; perfume
      3. The trail of a hunted animal or fugitive:
      1. (Archaic) A perfume or other sweet-smelling substance
      2. That characteristic of a substance which makes it perceptible to the sense of smell
      3. A quality of something that is perceived by the sense of smell:
      1. The quality of having a pleasant odor:
      2. A substance, such as a perfume or cologne, designed to emit a pleasant odor.
      3. A sweet or pleasant odor; a scent.

  2. An unpleasant smell

  3. The sense of smell

Verb

  1. To give off odor

  2. To use the sense of smell

    See also:

    breathe

Synonym Study

  • Aroma suggests a pervasive, pleasant, often sharp odor the aroma of fine tobacco
  • Odor suggests a heavier emanation and, therefore, one that is more generally perceptible and more clearly recognizable chemical odors
  • Scent refers to the emanation from the thing smelled, often implying that it can be discriminated only by a sensitive sense of smell the scent of a hunted animal
  • Smell is the most general word for any quality perceived through the olfactory sense foul and fresh smells
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • I love the smell of the ocean.

  • She rose and approached, resting back on her heels in front of him, close enough for him to smell her musk and feel her heat.

  • Here I am, so close to the tipster I can smell her; or him.

  • I could smell coffee.

  • The smell of coffee brought Yancey back into the room a little later.

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Words near smell in the Thesaurus