smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose:
the smell from the kitchen
What’s that awful smell?
the sweet smell of roses
whiff something that you smell for a short time:
He caught a whiff of her perfume.
a whiff of apple blossom
scent a smell – used especially about the pleasant smell from flowers, plants, or fruit. Also used about the smell left by an animal:
The rose had a beautiful scent.
Cats use their scent to mark their territory.
the sharp, dying scent of autumn
the heady scent (=strong scent)of magnolias
fragrance/perfume a pleasant smell, especially from flowers, plants, or fruit. Fragrance and perfume are more formal than scent:
the sweet perfume of the orange blossoms
Each mango has its own special fragrance.
aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee:
the aroma of fresh coffee
The kitchen was filled with the aroma of mince pies.
odour British English, odor American English formal an unpleasant smell:
An unpleasant odour was coming from the dustbins.
the odor of stale tobacco smoke
pong British English informal an unpleasant smell:
What’s that horrible pong?
stink/stench a very strong and unpleasant smell:
I couldn’t get rid of the stink of sweat.
The toilet gave off a terrible stench.
smell good/nice etc
The food smelled good.
smell delicious
That soup smells delicious.
smell fresh
Rub your chopping board with lemon to keep it smelling fresh.
smell sweet
A ripe melon will smell sweet.
smell bad/awful etc
Cigarettes make your clothes smell awful.
smell funny/strange
This place smells funny sometimes.
smell strongly of something
The man smelled strongly of alcohol.
smell faintly of something
His suit smelled faintly of tobacco.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲