Q&A for How to Describe a Smell

Think about what is in that room, where the room is, what do the things in the room smell like. For example, bathroom at your grandmother's house will smell a lot different than the one at a hotel, or restaurant.

You can describe the color of the smoke and the patterns it make as it rises. The smell may be evocative of old memories.

You can describe the smell of the icing, and think about what type of cake it is (e.g. chocolate cake, sponge cake, etc.). You can also describe the smell of the filling and the smell of the candles when they are lit.

It's an earthy, metallic odor, much like copper.

Close your eyes and think about what pops into your mind when you smell cinnamon. It has a sweet yet bark-like smell, warm and earthy.

Use words like "salty" and "fresh," because these make the fish sound much more appetizing than words like "greasy" or "oily."

A rose smells earthy, but at the same time clean, fresh and crisp, much like an apple (it doesn't taste like an apple, though). What kind of rose? The lighter ones smell more light and airy, like baby's breath or lavender, and the darker ones smell more earthy, woody, and forest-like. Also, lots of roses don't smell particularly good, so your description of a rose doesn't have to be all sunshine and rainbows.

It has that nice crisp air that is refreshing, like a waterfall. Sometimes you can smell budding flowers, or the smell of rain on the concrete.

I would say something like "warm-smelling, zesty fizzling fats, and warm frothy goodness."

Describe that nice fried dough smell. Then describe the scent of the frosting. Is it chocolate? Is it vanilla? Does it have toppings or fillings? Those can also dictate what the doughnut smells like.

The smell of someone can convey their personality and how a character feels about them. Do they have a certain perfume? If you have someone who has just been doing an intensive activity, then they smell slightly sweaty. What do you want to say about your character? Are they like a tree, strong, unyielding, dependable? If so, woodsy, forest smells could work. Are they kind, sweet, like cinnamon or lavender? Is it romance, so then fruits that are romantic like cherries and strawberries could work. Are they dangerous? If so, they could smell like rusted metal, oil and blood?

You could say it smelled like pine trees and roses or that it was an overpowering scent of lilac. You could look up some different kinds of perfumes, and see how they describe them. You would want simple though, not overkill like rose and vanilla with undertones of lilac, marshmallow, and sandalwood. Just say it smelled like roses and vanilla.