odor
Americannoun
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odors
plural
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the property of a substance that activates the sense of smell.
to have an unpleasant odor.
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a sensation perceived by the sense of smell; scent.
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an agreeable scent; fragrance.
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a disagreeable smell.
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a quality or property characteristic or suggestive of something.
An odor of suspicion surrounded his testimony.
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repute.
in bad odor with the whole community.
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Archaic. something that has a pleasant scent.
noun
Synonym Usage
Odor, smell, scent, stench all refer to sensations perceived through the nose by the olfactory nerves. Odor and smell in literal contexts are often interchangeable. Figuratively, odor also usually occurs in positive contexts: the odor of sanctity. Smell is the most general and neutral of these two terms, deriving connotation generally from the context in which it is used: the tempting smell of fresh-baked bread; the rank smell of rotting vegetation. In figurative contexts smell may be either positive or negative: the sweet smell of success; a strong smell of duplicity pervading the affair. Scent refers either to delicate and pleasing aromas or to faint, barely perceptible smells: the scent of lilacs on the soft spring breeze; deer alarmed by the scent of man. Stench is strongly negative, referring both literally and figuratively to what is foul, sickening, or repulsive: the stench of rotting flesh; steeped in the stench of iniquity and treason.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of odor
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin
Explanation
An odor is anything you can smell — like a scent or an aroma. If you sniff a sour odor in your gallon of milk, you should probably pour it down the sink instead of drinking it. Most people are more likely to use the word odor for unpleasant smells, like the odor of your uncle's stinky cigars or the musty odor in your grandmother's attic. You can also use the word odor in a figurative way, to mean a feeling or impression given by something: "The whole bank seemed full of the odor of money and greed." Odor is Latin, meaning "a smell or a scent."
Vocabulary lists containing odor
"Dogs at Work"
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4-letter words, List 1
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Cats rely heavily on scent to learn about one another, often gathering information from urine and other odor marks left behind in their surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Many odor molecules evaporate, break down, or change with time.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
The two inspectors “noted the particular odor emanating from the dumping of putrescent food waste,” according to the notice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
The air quality management district said it has received more than 4,900 odor complaints related to the Lineage warehouse “reporting persistent rotten, sour and garbage-like odors.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
I sniffed at each shoulder and smelled the familiar boiled-cabbage odor of our boardinghouse.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Researchers also examined the flehmen response, the characteristic open-mouthed expression often seen when cats investigate certain odors.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Remarkably, cats continued to show reduced responses to previously encountered urine odors even after gaps lasting months.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
The building was storing millions of pounds of fresh and frozen food such as meat, bread and seafood that rotted after the blaze, prompting complaints, citations and lawsuits over foul odors and pests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Even among those who did, many blamed the epidemic on miasma—conditions attributed to odors, stagnant water or unseen particles in the atmosphere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
The strong evening odors of green things and living things were in his distended nostrils, drawing him toward them more powerfully than the smell of goat or wine.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
