olfactory
adjective
ōl-
Did you know?
No, olfactory is not a noun meaning “a place that makes scents”; for that, you want perfumery, which makes more sense. Olfactory is instead an adjective used to describe things related to one’s sense of smell, that which lets you detect fruit with your snoot, a leek with your beak, Shiraz with your schnozz. Olfactory comes from the Latin word olfacere (“to smell”), which in turn combines two verbs, olēre (“to give off a smell”) and facere (“to do”). It often appears in scientific contexts (as in “olfactory nerves,” the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain the receptors that make smelling possible), but it is occasionally used in less technical writing and speech. The pleasant smell of hot mulled cider, for example, might be considered an “olfactory delight,” depending on the spices and your own sensibilities, of course. As they say, the nose knows.
Examples of olfactory in a Sentence
Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 28 Oct. 2025
The driving force in the mythos of French cuisine, a sauce can conjure olfactory loops and Proustian moments.
—Joel Hart, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2025
Another room, called the olfactory room, focuses on the brand’s key notes across juices, which include vanilla, bergamot, tonka bean, iris, rose and jasmine.
—James Manso, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2025
Scent preferences are personal, and today’s perfumers approach candle compositions with the same artistry and precision as fine colognes, treating them as another olfactory canvas to paint on.
—Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for olfactory
Cite this Entry
“Olfactory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/olfactory. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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olfactory
adjective
Medical Definition
olfactory
adjective
ōl-
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