perfume
Americannoun
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a substance, extract, or preparation for diffusing or imparting an agreeable or attractive smell, especially a fluid containing fragrant natural oils extracted from flowers, woods, etc., or similar synthetic oils.
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the scent, odor, or volatile particles emitted by substances that smell agreeable.
- Antonyms:
- stench
verb (used with object)
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(of substances, flowers, etc.) to impart a pleasant fragrance to.
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to impregnate with a sweet odor; scent.
noun
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a mixture of alcohol and fragrant essential oils extracted from flowers, spices, etc, or made synthetically, used esp to impart a pleasant long-lasting scent to the body, stationery, etc See also cologne toilet water
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a scent or odour, esp a fragrant one
verb
Synonym Usage
Perfume, aroma, fragrance all refer to agreeable odors. Perfume often indicates a strong, rich smell, natural or manufactured: the perfume of flowers. Fragrance is usually applied to fresh, delicate, and delicious odors, especially from growing things: fragrance of new-mown hay. Aroma is restricted to a somewhat spicy smell: the aroma of coffee.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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perfumesimple
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perfumessimple
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have perfumedperfect
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has perfumedperfect
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am perfumingprogressive
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are perfumingprogressive
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is perfumingprogressive
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have been perfumingperfect progressive
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has been perfumingperfect progressive
Past
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perfumedsimple
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had perfumedperfect
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was perfumingprogressive
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were perfumingprogressive
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had been perfumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perfume
First recorded in 1525–35; earlier parfume (noun), from Middle French parfum, noun derivative of parfumer (verb), from obsolete Italian parfumare (modern profumare ). See per-, fume
Explanation
That delicious mid-summer smell in the middle of a rose garden? You can call that its perfume. If you apply scented oil to your neck and wrists before leaving your house every the morning, you know what perfume is. Another kind of perfume is one that doesn't come in a bottle, like the smell of your mom's cinnamon rolls or the salty fragrance of the ocean after a storm. The earliest use of perfume in English specifically meant "the smell of something burning," and the Latin root is smoky as well: fumare means "to smoke" and per means "through."
Vocabulary lists containing perfume
The Nose Knows: Olfactory Vocabulary
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Smell Words
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Unit 16
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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 powder clings beautifully to potatoes before roasting, the dried dairy helping to encourage browning while the herbs perfume every bite.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
Before perfume, there was incense—in fact, the origin of the word perfume is per fumum, a Latin term meaning “through smoke.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
In March, Estee Lauder said it was in talks to acquire Spanish beauty group Puig, which sells perfume, fashion, makeup and skin-care products from brands including Carolina Herrera, Charlotte Tilbury, Byredo and Dr. Barbara Sturm.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
He also said that their two children reminded him of "the best" of Michelle and that they "ask for her perfume so they can still smell her".
From BBC • May 20, 2026
She had a makeup table laden with perfume bottles and face powder compacts and various ointments in tiny pots, which given my mother’s modest practicality seemed as exotic as jewels to me.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
