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• rose water
  rose water

  noun

  water tinctured with the essential oil of roses, used as a perfume and in cooking.
• rose-water
  rose-water

  adjective

  having the aroma or fragrance of rose water.

rose water

¹ American  

[rohz-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈroʊzˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

Or rosewater

noun

1. water tinctured with the essential oil of roses, used as a perfume and in cooking.

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rose-water ² American  

[rohz-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈroʊzˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

adjective

1. having the aroma or fragrance of rose water.

2. affectedly delicate, nice, or fine; sentimental.

   a Victorian novelist with a genteel, rose-water style.

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rose-water British  

noun

1. 1. scented water used as a perfume and in cooking, made by the distillation of rose petals or by impregnation with oil of roses

   2. ( as modifier )

      rose-water scent

2. (modifier) elegant or delicate, esp excessively so

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Etymology

Origin of rose water¹

First recorded in 1350–1400

Origin of rose-water²

First recorded in 1655–65

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rose water rose-water

In addition to the variety of instruments evoking the sounds of nature, it incorporated breathwork, vocal exercises and a small amount of physical sensation: a refreshing spritz of rose water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Before you leave, order a coffee — flavors like rose water, pistachio, and orange blossom tahini offer a refreshing finish to the meal.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

So Mr Jain decided to turn his roses into rose water and rose oil.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2023

Malabi is rose water milk pudding — delicate in flavor, firm but creamy, not too sweet — most often topped with a simple berry sauce and chopped pistachios.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2023

At lunch she hiked miles within the walled city, around curls and corners of tiny alleyways, up secretive staircases, along crowded thoroughfares smelling of oranges and rose water and damp, mopped stone.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Take a third of a pound of sugar, dissolve it with half an ounce of rose-water on a quiet fire, then take it up.

From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2011

Is not God very good to give us roses to look at and smell; and to make into rose-water, after they are all faded and fallen to pieces?

From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mary E. Mann

The rose-water is not very clear, but it has much of the overpowering, lingering odour of attar of roses.

From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird

They also bring to this city of Ormuz, quicksilver, vermillion, rose-water, brocade and silk stuffs, scarlet woollens, coarse camelots, and silk.

From A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa

Roses were made into rose-water and also into rose conserve, a kind of sweetmeat of rose-petals, sugar and spice packed in little jars.

From In the Days of the Guild by Louise Lamprey

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