olfactory

adjective ol·fac·to·ry \ äl-ˈfak-t(ə-)rē , ōl- \

Updated on: 7 Apr 2018

Definition of olfactory

: of or relating to the sense of smell

olfactory receptors

olfactory sensations

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olfactorily

play \äl-ˈfak-t(ə-)rə-lē, ōl-\ adverb

See olfactory defined for English-language learners

See olfactory defined for kids

olfactory was our Word of the Day on 09/17/2014. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of olfactory from the Web

Devout believers agree that the steam from a hot shower amplifies the fruit’s olfactory elements, leading to a more sensorial, tasty, if slightly inconvenient orange-eating experience.

— kathleen hou, The Cut, "This Beautiful French Perfume Smells Like Fresh Oranges and Life," 26 Mar. 2018
Here, Nagel provides a firsthand description of each invigorating olfactory experience.

— megan deem, Vogue, "Hermès’s New Desert-Inspired Fragrance Oils Are a Bohemian Dream," 21 Mar. 2018
Our olfactory limitations are not due to an innate inability to detect or distinguish smells.

— asifa majid, Time, "Humans Are Neglecting Our Sense of Smell. Here's What We Could Gain By Fixing That," 7 Mar. 2018
Among its most public applications so far, Gita has worked as a fancy champagne bucket and olfactory vaporizer at a haute-cuisine eatery called Café ArtScience, near MIT.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "The Cute Robot That Follows You Around the City," 28 Feb. 2018
But for others — those who experience oral and olfactory phantoms — there aren't.

— erin blakemore, Washington Post, "The strange condition that makes you feel as if you burned your mouth," 7 Mar. 2018
Train your brain to link the olfactory sensation to ZZZ's by spritzing your home pillows with the scent then traveling with a three-ounce bottle of your own.

— cassie shortsleeve, Condé Nast Traveler, "All the Gear You Need to Actually Sleep on a Plane," 20 Feb. 2018
And this in turn has helped them develop a stellar olfactory vocabulary.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "New Study Suggests Lifestyle Shapes Our Ability to Name Odors," 22 Jan. 2018
Much has been made of the strong relationship between the olfactory system and memories, the former triggering the latter.

— beca grimm, GQ, "Before You Can Get Over an Ex, You Have to Get Rid of Their Scent," 11 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'olfactory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Olfactory derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere, which means "to smell" and which was formed from the verb olēre (also "to smell") and facere ("to do"). Olfactory is a word that 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 has occasionally branched out into less specialized contexts. The pleasant smell of spring flowers, for example, might be considered an "olfactory delight." A related word, olfaction, is a noun referring to the sense of smell or the act or process of smelling.