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
Kiana Murden, Vogue, 16 Apr. 2026
Much like having a cold, the subsequent congestion can then block odor molecules from reaching olfactory receptors.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2026
Pests use olfactory cues produced by plant roots, stems, foliage, and flowers to find host plants.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Apr. 2026
This major hormone shift can shock multiple systems in your body, including the olfactory system.
—Annie Blay-Tettey, Allure, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for olfactory
Cite this Entry
“Olfactory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/olfactory. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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olfactory
adjective
Medical Definition
olfactory
adjective
ōl-
