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Lesson 32 – Smell

Today we’ll continue learning collocations related to the five senses, with expressions for describing different smells. Let’s begin by looking at some commonly confused words.

Aroma, scent, and fragrance all describe a good smell. You can talk about the wonderful aroma of a cake that has just been taken out of the oven, the fresh scent of flowers, and the sweet fragrance of a woman’s perfume.

The word smell is neutral; you can have the lovely smell of fresh-baked bread, or the horrible smell of rotting food. The word “smell” can be a noun or a verb – so you can also say “It smells delicious” or “It smells nasty.”

The words stench, stink, and odor all describe bad smells – there’s the foul odor of a dead animal, and the revolting stench of sewage. The unpleasant smell of a person who doesn’t take showers or use deodorant is called body odor.

To describe the strength of smells, you can say they are light/faint smells or strong smells. When a smell is extremely strong, you can say it is an overpowering smell. A smell that you recognize can be called a familiar smell, and a smell that is unique and easy to identify can be called a distinctive smell or an unmistakable smell.

Smells can “waft” – that means float through the air. For example, the mouth-watering scent of chocolate chip cookies wafted across the room. Another verb used with smell is “fill” – the acrid smell of smoke filled the hallway. Finally, if a smell stays in a place for a long time, we can use the verb “linger” – the spicy aroma of her cooking lingered in the kitchen for hours.

Here are some additional collocations for describing smells:

earthy/fishy/fruity/metallic smell – smells like soil/dirt, fish, fruit, or metal

rancid/putrid smell – a disgusting smell of things that are rotten

damp/dank smell – a smell of wet things and mold

a pervasive smell – a smell that tends to fill the space and remain there

a pungent smell – a smell that is “sharp” and strong; it almost hurts your nose when you smell it