A Vocabulary for Describing Fragrance

Earthy, powdery, clean. I have gathered Japanese and English words for describing scent. Enjoy the differences in how people perceive it as you look for clues to expressing your own impressions.

Search Japanese, English, and descriptions

Families and Materials

Earthyearthy

A scent reminiscent of earth. It can range from dry soil to damp soil, but it brings to mind the smell you get when you put your nose close to the ground. A fragrance described as earthy may, for example, contain patchouli (in Japanese), giving it an ink-like richness and an earthy smell.

Aquaticaquatic

A watery, salty scent with the smoothness of water.

Animalicanimalic

An animal-like smell that brings to mind a zoo or the smell of keeping animals. Many such scents are powerful, reminiscent of feces or urine and generally perceived as unpleasant, and many remain on the skin for a long time. As the name “animalic” suggests, this quality is characteristic of materials obtained from animals, such as musk (in Japanese) (collected from a musk deer’s gland) and civet (in Japanese) (collected from a civet’s gland). However, flowers such as jasmine (in Japanese) and tuberose also contain animalic scent components; without them, they would not smell like those flowers.

Aldehydicaldehydic

The metallic coolness and piercing, sharp smell of aldehydes (in Japanese). There is also a soap-like quality, and it works well with floral and fruity scents.

Aromaticaromatic

The scent of plants and herbs, with a calming, refreshing effect on the mood. Typical examples include lavender, peppermint (in Japanese), and basil.

Woodywoody

Scents associated with trees, including wood, forests, damp moss, and earth. The smell you notice when you bring your nose close to a freshly shaved wooden surface. Cedarwood, sandalwood (in Japanese), and vetiver (in Japanese) are often used.

Ozonicozonic

A fresh, cool scent like a sea breeze or the chlorine-like smell you notice at a swimming pool.

Like camphorcamphoraceous

Camphor is a substance extracted from the camphor tree and used in moth repellents. It has a fresh, clean, medicinal smell, like a hospital or a medicated patch. You may notice it when fragrance materials such as patchouli (in Japanese) and eucalyptus are used.

Greengreen

Used when a scent suggests the bitterness of crushed grass or the smell of leaves. It also has a raw, green quality. A representative material for a green impression is galbanum.

Citruscitrus

The citrus scents everyone loves. They range from the tartness of lemon (in Japanese) to the mandarin-like sweetness of sweet orange. All are characteristically fresh and juicy, bringing to mind the bitterness of the peel and the essence that bursts from it.

Spicyspicy

The complex pungency of spices and scents that stimulate the nose. They cover a broad range: nose-tingling scents such as black pepper and clove; scents with sweetness and a little bite, such as cinnamon and anise; and scents with a cool quality, such as saffron and cardamom.

Fruityfruity

Used for the sweetness of fruit or the scent of exotic fruits, distinct from citrus. Fruit scents such as apple, peach, and fig (in Japanese) fit this description. In many cases these scents are created with synthetic fragrance materials, but they still suggest the juiciness of biting into a piece of fruit.

Floralfloral

“The smell of flowers” is an abstract description, but floral is often used for an imagined flower scent. What does that mean? Even if you have never smelled an actual rose or jasmine flower, you will have encountered a rose-like or jasmine-like scent at some point in your life. So when you meet a fragrance that calls up that image, even if it differs from the real flower, you think, “That smells like a rose!” And when no particular flower comes to mind but you have a vaguely flowery impression, the word used is floral. In other words, floral expresses an abstract scent that evokes the idea of flowers. Perfumes representing the scent of a particular flower are therefore called monofloral or solifloral.

Marinemarine

The salty, seashore smell that evokes the sea. It is saltier than aquatic or ozonic, with a real “summer at the beach!” feeling. It can also have watery, green notes like watermelon or melon. A representative material used to create this scent is Calone.

Muskymusky

Used when a scent has a musk-like character.

Mossymossy

A scent suggesting the dampness of a place where moss grows.

Leatheryleathery

A scent of dry wood and smoke that suggests leather.

Texture

Cosmeticcosmetic

A scent combining the powderiness you notice at a department-store cosmetics counter with a floral note such as violet.

Smokysmoky

A dry scent suggesting tobacco smoke or smoke from burning wood. You may notice it when materials such as birch tar and vetiver (in Japanese) are used.

Zestyzesty

Used when citrus or fruit combines with a fizzy quality. It suggests a carbonated drink, a fizz.

Soapysoapy

Used to describe a soap-like scent. A combination of aldehydes (in Japanese), musk (in Japanese), and floral notes can smell like soap.

Powderypowdery

A powder-like scent. As with cosmetic, it is often noticeable when iris (in Japanese) or violet is present, bringing to mind something like the cosmetics your grandmother used.

Balsamicbalsamic

Balsamic is used for a sweet, soft, warm, spicy scent with a sticky quality. The expression is often used when resinous fragrance materials are present, with balsam (in Japanese) and myrrh as representative examples.

Metallicmetallic

A scent reminiscent of metal or stainless steel, with a coolness that seems to pass straight through the nasal cavity and a sensation like a sharp needle. Synthetic fragrance materials such as rose oxide and aldehydes are generally used.

Milkymilky

A sweet, thick scent like milk with sugar added.

Lactoniclactonic

Similar to milky, it is a creamy scent with fruity sweetness. It is called lactonic because you notice lactone (in Japanese) notes like peach, almond, fig, or coconut.

Impressions

Cleanclean

Cleanliness! This impression is mainly noticeable when synthetic musks are used. When a scent is commonly described as “a freshly washed shirt” or “the smell of soap,” it generally smells clean because synthetic musks (in Japanese) are present.

Sexysexy

What counts as sexy probably varies by culture and individual, but it would mean feeling sexual attraction. Materials often present in scents described as sexy include the detergent-like smell of synthetic musk, animal-derived fragrance materials (perhaps there is some kind of erotic appeal even in their unpleasant smell?), and sweet notes like vanilla. In Japan and abroad alike, fougère (in Japanese) perfumes for men are generally considered sexy, and even today many top-ranked men’s perfumes have scents that would be classified as fougères.

Sensualsensual

In Japanese, this means “sensuous” or “fleshy,” with a subtly different nuance from sexy. I feel it tends to be used more often for fragrances aimed at women. The word perfectly fits a glimpse of an erotic side in the darkness of night, the image of a femme fatale. Tuberose is a representative material.

Mysteriousmysterious

Used when the scent as a whole does not readily call up an intuitive image and has a misty, enigmatic atmosphere. You are likely to notice it in scents you do not often encounter in everyday life, smoky scents, or scents using vanilla or spices in the oriental (amber) (in Japanese) family.

Putting Fragrance into Words

When putting a scent into words, it is easier to choose descriptions if you divide it into three aspects: ① its fragrance family, ② its texture, and ③ the impression it makes. For example, family might be citrus, floral, or woody; texture might be powdery, milky, or smoky; and impression might be clean, sensual, or mysterious. Try combining two or three words from this list, as in “a fresh, clean citrus scent” or “woody and smoky, with a calm impression.”

To communicate through metaphor, add one familiar scene or material. “Earthiness like soil after rain,” “soapiness reminiscent of a freshly washed shirt,” and “a sweet, smooth lactonic quality like a milk confection” are more specific than simply saying “a nice smell” or “a sweet scent.” Adding information about strength or diffusion, such as “faint,” “clearly defined,” or “lingering quietly close to the skin,” makes it easier to communicate.

Individual Differences in Description and Perception

What words do you use to describe fragrance? The perfume industry’s vocabulary is a little unusual. I explain the basics of “notes” and “accords” in What Notes and Accords Mean (in Japanese). Here, I have gathered words for describing fragrance along with their English equivalents (please bear in mind that these are my subjective impressions). They are abstract expressions, so in practice people often draw on their own experiences and choose descriptions in which a memory and a scent coincide. The important thing to understand is that one material does not necessarily correspond to one description: each has many different facets.

This page can also serve as practice for people who find it difficult to put scent into words, sales associates who do not know how to describe a fragrance, and anyone who has smelled something but does not know what to say about it. For ways to structure a description in customer service or a review, also see How to Structure a Perfume Description for Someone Else. Learning the expressions here will certainly open new horizons in your perfume life.

However, we do not know whether everyone perceives a given scent in the same way, and those perceptions are difficult to define clearly. Even if you and I use the same words for a fragrance, we cannot know whether we are experiencing it in the same way. For more on individual differences in perception and language, see How We Perceive Scent.