SCENT DESCRIPTORS
Below are scent descriptors culled from many sources. The largest group are in the “Semantic Quality” categories, which are semantic odor quality descriptors used for profiling (adapted from Dravnieks, 1985).
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Scent Descriptors
GENERAL
agrestic, adjective, Scent Descriptor. Relating to the country; rural or rustic.
alliaceous, adjective, Scent Descriptor. Relating to or denoting plants of a group that comprises the onions and other alliums. Key notes : garlic (ail is French for garlic), leek, white truffle (latter not alliacae family of plant but smell yes), more than onions.
ambrosial, Scent Descriptors, Perfume. Exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant. worthy of the gods; divine
bibliosmia, noun, Scent of books. Bibliosmia or book-smell is caused by the chemical breakdown of compounds within the paper (2014, Dr. Oliver Tearle)
chypre, noun, Scent Descriptors. Perfume Style. Family (or concept) of perfumes that are characterised by an accord composed of citrus top notes, a middle centered on cistus labdanum, and a mossy-animalic set of basenotes derived from oakmoss
hawthorn, Medieval folk also asserted that the smell of hawthorn blossom was just like the smell of the Great Plague in London. Botanists later discovered the reason for this. The chemical trimethylamine present in hawthorn blossom is also formed in decaying animal tissue.
fougère, noun, Scent Descriptors. Perfume Style. Fougère perfumes are made with a blend of fragrances: top-notes are sweet, with the scent of lavender flowers; as the more volatile components evaporate, the scents of oakmoss, derived from a species of lichen and described as woody, sharp and slightly sweet, and coumarin, similar to the scent of new-mown hay, become.
vellichor, noun , Scent Descriptor, Books. The strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured. - John Koenig (word contribution from Suze Nightengale
vamber, adjective, Scent Descriptor, Perfume. Vanilla + Amber - coined in 2020 as a reaction to Oriental terms traditionally found in the perfume landscape. - contributed by Ryan Day Castle
Each Category below titled “Semantic Quality” are semantic odor quality descriptors used for profiling (adapted from Dravnieks, 1985)
SEMANTIC QUALITY, HUMANALIC (BODY)
camphoraceous
dirty linen
fecal, manure
seminal, like sperm
sewer
sour milk
urine
SEMANTIC QUALITY, CHEMICAL
alcohol
ammonia
chemical
cleaning fluid
disinfectant, carbolic
ether, anaesthetic
gasoline, solvent
household gas
kerosene
medicinal
moth balls
nail polish remover
paint
sharp, pungent, acid
soapy
sour, acid, vinegar
sulphidic
turpentine, pine oil
varnish
SEMANTIC QUALITY, COMMON
aromatic
bitter
cologne
cool, cooling
floral
fragrant
heavy
incense
light
musky
perfumery
stale
sweaty
sweet
warm
SEMANTIC QUALITY, FOODS
bakery, fresh bread
beer
buttery, fresh
caramel
cheesy
choclate
coffee
eggs, fresh
fried chicken
honey
molasses
peanut butter
popcorn
raisins
soupy
SEMANTIC QUALITY, FOUL
dead animal
fermented, rotten fruit
mouse-like
putrid, foul, decayed
rancid
sickening
SEMANTIC QUALITY, FRUITS
apple
banana
cantaloupe
cherry, berry
coconut
fruity, citrus
fruity, other
grape juice
grapefruit
lemon
orange
peach
pear
pineapple
strawberry/red berries
SEMANTIC QUALITY, MATERIALS
burnt candle
burnt milk
burnt paper
burnt rubber
burnt, smoky
cardboard
chalky
cork
creosote
dry, powdery
fresh tobacco smoke
leathery
metallic
rope
rubbery, new
sooty
stale tobacco smoke
tarragon
wet paper
wet wool, wet dog
SEMANTIC QUALITY, MEATS
animal
blood, raw meat
celery
cooked vegetable
fish
kippery, smoked fish
meat seasoning
meat, cooked good
oily, fatty
sauerkraut
SEMANTIC QUALITY, OUTDOORS
bark, birch
cedarwood
crushed grass
crushed weed
geranium leaves
grainy
hay
herbal, cut grass
laurel leaves
lavender
musty, earthy, moldy
oakwood, cognac
rose
violets
woody, resinous
SEMANTIC QUALITY, SPICES
almond nutty
anise, licorice
black pepper
caraway
cinnamon
clove
dill
eucalyptus
malt
maple syrup
minty, peppermint
nut, walnut
spicy
tea leaves
vanilla
yeast
SEMANTIC QUALITY, VEGETABLES
bean
fresh, vegetables
garlic, onion
green pepper
mushroom
raw cucumber
raw potato
PERFUMY/PERFUME THEORY
(oak)mossy
acidic-cheesy
aldehydic
ambergris
animalic, Typically ones that smell like skin, fur, body smells, etc. Classically, they are musk ( originally from beavers and deer), ambergris ( digestive byproduct of whales), and civet ( from a civet cat.)
aromatic-herbal, Bibliosmia or book-smell is caused by the chemical breakdown of compounds within the paper. - 2014, Dr. Oliver Tearle
bleachy-chlorine
bulk group
carnation
cassis
citronella
citrus
cocunut-prune-milky-lactonic
coumarin
cucumber-vegetable
dried fruits/wine
fatty
fecal
fenugreek
fishy-ammoniacal
floral-balsamic
foliage
freesia
fruity
galbanum
green
green apple
green grassy
green metallis
guaiylic
hircine
hydrogen-bond acceptor
hydrophone
indolic-naphtalinic
ivy leaves
jasmine
licorice
lilac
lily-of-the-valley
lime
maltoly
mandarin
marine
marzipan
melon
minty blue
minty green
moldy-earthy
mushroomy
musky-animalic
musty
osmophoric group
ozonic
patchouli
peach-apricot
peppery-terpenic
piney-conidferous-reinous
powdery sweet
rancid
rasberry
resinous-balsamic
santal
sulfury
thyme
urinous
vanillic
vetiver
violet leaves
waxy
woody
woody-ambery
ylang-ylang