Words can describe the smell of flowers and other odors of life. Words can also describe what the smell represents. The more descriptive the word, the greater the chance that the imagination can recreate the scent.

Descriptive Words for Scents 

The word “scent” can mean “odor”; “an odor left behind”, like when dogs follow a scent; or “perfume.” Synonyms for the word “scent” include:

fragrance, smell, aroma, aura, balm, bouquet, essence, fragrance, incense, odorize, perfume, pheromone, redolence, and whiff.  Antonyms would be: stench, stink, and deodorize.

Some descriptive words for scents refer to what made the smell or what it smells like. For example:

doggy, lemon, lemony, lilac, lime, mildewed, mint, minty, moldy, pine, plastic, rose, skunky, and woodsy.

Most descriptive words for scents tell the way it smells or what the smell represents. These are words like:

acid, acrid, airy, biting, clean, crisp, dirty, earthy, faint, feminine, fetid, fishy, fresh, floral, flowery, light, loamy, masculine, moist, musty, nauseating, perfumed, pungent, putrid, rancid, redolent, repulsive, rotten, sharp, sour, spicy, spoiled, stale, stinking, sweaty, sweet, tart, and wispy.

Scents can bring back memories or can set the mood for new experiences. Sometimes you don't need to smell the actual scent, because the words used to describe the scent are so realistic.