aroma

Aroma is the word for a fragrant scent, one that pleases the nose in a way that makes you lick your lips. Unlike its foul-smelling cousin the odor, an aroma smells but never stinks.

Want to know what aromas smell like? Brew a fresh pot of coffee, grill some onions, and fry up a few strips of bacon. Aromas make you drool. You can also use the word to describe things that don't literally smell, yet somehow seem to linger smell-like in the air, like the oppressive aroma of a brutal dictatorship.

Definitions of aroma
  1. noun
    any property detected by the olfactory system
    synonyms: odor, odour, olfactory property, scent, smell
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    types:
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    bouquet, fragrance, fragrancy, redolence, sweetness
    a pleasingly sweet olfactory property
    fetidness, foulness, malodorousness, rankness, stinkiness
    the attribute of having a strong offensive smell
    muskiness
    having the olfactory properties of musk
    rancidness
    the property of being rancid
    tang
    a pungent and distinctive odor
    B.O., body odor, body odour
    malodorousness resulting from a failure to bathe
    type of:
    property
    a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class
  2. noun
    a distinctive odor that is pleasant
    synonyms: fragrance, perfume, scent
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    types:
    incense
    the pleasing scent produced when incense is burned
    petrichor
    a pleasant, earthly smell associated with rain, especially after a period of dry, warm weather
    type of:
    odor, odour, olfactory perception, olfactory sensation, smell
    the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
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