Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Words for Describing Smells

Since my latest character has a finely-tuned sense of smell, I’ve been using a lot of smell-related words and descriptions in my writing. As I wracked my brain, thinking of unique ways to sprinkle descriptors into my writing, I compiled this list of smell related words – I’m sharing in case it helps someone else out.

Words Describing Different Smells

acidy
acrid
antiseptic
aromatic
balmy
biting
bitter
briny
burnt
citrusy
comforting
corky
damp
dank
distinctive
earthy
fishy
flowery
fragrant
fresh
fruity
gamy
gaseous
heavy
lemony
medicinal
metallic
mildewed
minty
moldy
musky
musty
odorless
peppery
perfumed
piney
pungent
putrid
reek
rose
rotten
savoury
scented
sharp
sickly
skunky
smoky
sour
spicy
spoiled
stagnant
stench
stinking
sulphur
sweaty
sweet
tart
tempting
vinegary
woody
yeasty
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12 comments:

  1. B.E. SandersonFebruary 1, 2012 at 9:28 AM

    Wow, that's some list. Thanks for sharing it. =o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carmella Van VleetFebruary 1, 2012 at 9:59 AM

    What a great list!! Makes me want to go put some smell in my WIP. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen StrongFebruary 1, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    This is a great list! *Prints out*

    Thanks so MUCH for sharing. This is great. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. MelodyFebruary 1, 2012 at 5:08 PM

    This is a great list, Andrea! Definitely starring this post. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jennifer RFebruary 1, 2012 at 8:17 PM

    What a great list of words. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JessFebruary 2, 2012 at 7:38 AM

    This is great! I just used "acrid" in my WIP, so it made me smile to see it here. I love using smells, too, and this list is definitely something to refer back to :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christina LeeFebruary 2, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    SOSOSO GOOD--thx for these! NOW can you come up with different words for: LAUGH? Drives me batty every manuscript!

    ReplyDelete
  8. bfavFebruary 3, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    I heart your list. I needed this today. I've been trying to work more smells into my manuscript. cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Christina FarleyFebruary 5, 2012 at 6:18 PM

    Great list! I printed it out. It will be very useful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Andrea MackFebruary 7, 2012 at 11:59 AM

    Glad it's useful! I love how us writers help each other out.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownDecember 24, 2016 at 7:19 PM

    I'm a perfumist (combine fragrant substances for my work of perfumery) and this list was helpful for writing descriptions of what various substances smelled like.

    ReplyDelete

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