olfactory
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonolfactory adjective
- olfactorily adverb
Etymology
Origin of olfactory
1650–60; < Latin olfactōrius, equivalent to olfac ( ere ) to smell at, sniff ( ol ( ēre ) to smell (akin to odor ) + facere to make, do) + -tōrius -tory 1
Explanation
Something olfactory has to do with the sense of smell. The odor from that factory is a symphony of olfactory delights. Not. Though we typically think of dogs as the olfactory champions of the world, what with their remarkable ability to sniff out practically anything, the true title belongs to the polar bear. Healthy, adult polar bears possess olfactory gifts that boggle the mind: they can smell a seal under the ice from over a kilometer away. One way to try to remember the meaning of the word olfactory is to think of factory. Your nose is the "factory" where odors are processed. What visual is to the eyes, olfactory is to the nose.
Vocabulary lists containing olfactory
Fahrenheit 451
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The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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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.
The locus coeruleus, found in the brainstem, helps regulate this process through long nerve fibers that extend to the olfactory bulb.
From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026
The initial goal is to create a diagnostic test to measure olfactory loss—a marker of Covid-19 and other conditions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Does the olfactory exhilaration also enhance play-calling, amplifying one’s grasp of X’s and O’s?
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026
Village dogs showed enriched wolf ancestry in olfactory receptor genes, which may support their need to locate human food waste.
From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2025
The problem of olfactory sensing shares some of the current puzzles and confusions of immunology, apart from the business of telling self from non-self.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
