How to Use smell in a Sentence

smell

1 of 2 verb
  • Can't you smell the profits?
  • She leaned over and smelled the flowers.
  • This car smells like mold.
  • I think I smell gas.
  • I have a cold right now so I can't smell.
  • I could smell dinner cooking.
  • I can't smell anything because I'm so stuffed up.
  • The evening smells like sweet dew.
    — R29 Team, Refinery29, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Will my hair smell like onions?
    — Grace McCarty, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Raw sewage doesn’t just smell bad.
    — ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The air smells of rust and salt.
    — Jeff Pearlman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Plus, your kitchen will smell great.
    — Devra Ferst, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 June 2026
  • Do you guys smell that in the air?
    — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 1 June 2026
  • Gilchrist comes over to smell it on me.
    — Sarah Turner, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • The air smells of wet wood and salt.
    — David Culver, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Flip things over, touch them, smell them.
    — Ginger Perra, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 June 2026
  • Soft, fresh-smelling sheets that feel like new.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 27 June 2026
  • Then your dog farts and smells the whole house up.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Here are some of the worst-smelling plants around.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 16 June 2026
  • Most of us, most of the time, can smell a scam.
    — Bruce Schneier, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
  • Even the car park smells of jasmine.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The cabin smelled of rot and wood smoke.
    — Nick Dothée, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
  • This smells like seven games all the way.
    — Pierre Lebrun, New York Times, 1 June 2026
  • Nobody can smell pills on your breath.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Nobody can smell pills on your breath.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 18 June 2026
  • The air smelled faintly of lunch and feet.
    — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • Get ready to stop and smell the roses.
    — Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Jan. 2026
  • To smell garlic and herbs sautéed in a pan?
    — Stephen Johnson, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Its vanilla scent smells good enough to eat.
    — Averi Baudler, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Just come over and smell the flowers.
    — Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 May 2026

smell

2 of 2 noun
  • Dogs have a keen sense of smell.
  • Mice don’t like its strong smell.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 6 Jan. 2026
  • So how does the new scent smell?
    — Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Great for pet smells and musty spots.
    — Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 5 Feb. 2026
  • The smell of fish hangs in the air.
    — Kristina Kasparian, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2026
  • The smell of the bar is quite strong.
    — Olivia Rose Rushing, InStyle, 7 Jan. 2026
  • This pick is more about taste than smell.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 10 Mar. 2026
  • The smell of weed seeps through the doors.
    — Emma Madden, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
  • The smell of beer and pot was strong.
    — Stephen King, The Atlantic, 15 May 2026
  • There was a smell, as there should be.
    — Sarah Moss, Travel + Leisure, 11 Jan. 2026
  • The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty.
    — Tori Mason, CBS News, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Let your home smell like them, all year long.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 18 Jan. 2026
  • The hair and the smell of the dog will linger.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The smell of salt and pluff mud fills the air.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 31 Jan. 2026
  • Cold heaters and the smell of diesel, oil, and mold.
    — Simon De Burton, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Does that musty, mildewy smell seem to get worse on warm days?
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 30 June 2026
  • One said his cell was dirty and had a strong smell of sewage.
    — Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The smell of his little shoe store.
    — Sue Fox Schwartz, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2026
  • The smell of baby oil on my skin.
    — Literary Hub, 7 May 2026
  • Is a musty smell always a sign of mold?
    — Ryan Brennan may 8, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2026
  • Dish soap also has a very strong smell.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Dish soap also has a very strong smell.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 29 Apr. 2026
  • The smell of ketchup drives me insane.
    — Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The sweet smell of success turns sour.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The smell of dill wafting through the air.
    — Dawn Lerman, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Most of them are for a burning smell.
    — Ted Scouten, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Then there was the rotten-egg smell.
    — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 10 June 2026
  • The smell of onions and garlic fills the room.
    — Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Bad gas often has a spoiled or sour smell.
    — Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Then, the smell of rotten fish hit.
    — Jerry Wu, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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