smell, scent, odor, aroma mean the quality that makes a thing perceptible to the olfactory sense.
smell implies solely the sensation without suggestion of quality or character.
an odd smell permeated the room
scent applies to the characteristic smell given off by a substance, an animal, or a plant.
the scent of lilacs
odor may imply a stronger or more readily distinguished scent or it may be equivalent to smell.
a cheese with a strong odor
aroma suggests a somewhat penetrating usually pleasant odor.
the aroma of freshly ground coffee
Example Sentences
The cheese has a strong odor. This deodorant prevents bad odor from occurring.
Recent Examples on the WebExperts say that whiskey with an exaggerated odor of alcohol most probably is of low quality. Toby Grey, BGR, 4 Sep. 2022 The vehicle, occupied by five people, was searched due to an odor of marijuana.cleveland, 24 Aug. 2022 Salem Hospital and Salem State University are among those that have called to report an odor of smoke, Payne said. Adam Sennott, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2022 The wind shifted, and an odor of rot enveloped the barge.New York Times, 14 June 2022 Crews returning to their station from another call smelled an odor around 1:45 a.m. and tracked down the fire, finding heavy smoke pouring from a commercial buiding on Auto Park Way near Citracado Parkway, said Escondido Battalion Chief Jeff Sargis. Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 2022 Residents in the area detecting an unusual odor were also recommended to shelter in place with doors and windows closed. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022 Humans have around 800 olfactory receptor genes that can have minor variations, which change how an odor is perceived. Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Feb. 2022 During the stop, according to the sheriff's office, a Burke County Sheriff’s Office K-9 detected an odor of narcotics, triggering a search of the car. Adam Sabes, Fox News, 5 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English odour, borrowed from Anglo-French odur, borrowed from Latin odor (early Latin odōs), going back to *od-os-, s-stem derivative of a verbal base *od- (whence Latin oleō, olēre, also olō, olere "to give off a smell, smell (of)," from *odere), going back to Indo-European *h3ed-, whence Greek ózein "to smell, give off an odor," Armenian hot "smell, odor" (probably also an s-stem), Lithuanian úodžiu, úosti "to smell, sniff"
Note: The length in the Baltic form is attributed to Winter's Law, which is believed to lengthen vowels before an original voiced, unaspirated stop in Baltic and Slavic in certain environments.