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PlainSpell

smell

/smɛl/noun, verb

smell is spelled S-M-E-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, smell means “A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of smell is smells.

How many letters and syllables are in smell?

Letters5: S-M-E-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing31 times per million words; the 3,052nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is smell?

Smell appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce smell?

  • US /smɛl/

Smell has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-smell.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with smell?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as smell from its last stressed vowel (/ɛl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of smell

  • smells plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • smelling participle, present
  • smelled participle, past
  • smelt participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does smell mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.

    I love the smell of fresh bread.

  2. 2

    The sense that detects odours.

  3. 3

    A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate.

verb

  1. 1

    To sense a smell or smells.

    I can smell fresh bread.

  2. 2

    To detect or perceive; often with out.

  3. 3

    Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.

    The roses smell lovely.

  4. 4

    To smell of; to have a smell of

  5. 5

    To smell bad; to stink.

    Ew, this restroom smells (loathsomely).

  6. 6

    To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.

    A report smells of calumny.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo give heed to.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Smell in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchodeur, parfum, goût (sensation), odorat (sense of smell), sentir, humer (sense with nose)
GermanGeruch (sensation), Geruchssinn, Riechen (sense of smell), riechen (sense with nose), stinken (to have a particular smell, whether good or…)
Portuguesecheiro (sensation), olfato, faro (sense of smell), cheirar (sense with nose)
Spanisholor, fato (sensation), olfato (sense of smell), oler, husmear, olorosar (sense with nose)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does smell come from?

From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *smiellan (“to smell, emit fumes”), from Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”). The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (“smell, odour”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after smell