perfume

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A liquid with a pleasant smell, made from fragrant oils, that you put on your skin.

   Grammar: Can be countable when referring to a type or bottle: a perfume, two perfumes. Uncountable when referring to the substance in general: wearing perfume.

   Patterns

   • wear perfume
   • a bottle of perfume
   • spray perfume

   She wears a light floral perfume every day.

   He bought her a bottle of French perfume for her birthday.

   The department store sells many different perfumes.

2. 2nouncountable or uncountableliterary

   A pleasant natural smell, especially from flowers or food.

   Grammar: Often used in literary or descriptive writing; can be countable (a perfume) or uncountable (the perfume of).

   Patterns

   • the perfume of something
   • a sweet perfume

   The perfume of fresh roses filled the garden.

   I love the perfume of coffee in the morning.

Word forms

Common combinations

strong perfume

Her strong perfume gave me a headache.

a hint of perfume

There was a hint of perfume in the air.

perfume counter

She works at the perfume counter in a department store.

spray on perfume

He sprayed on some perfume before the party.

Synonyms and how they differ

fragrance

Often used in more formal or commercial contexts; can also refer to a pleasant smell in general.

scent

Can mean a pleasant smell or a trail of smell left behind; less often refers to the bottled product itself.

cologne

A type of perfume with lower concentration of oils, typically for men.

Opposites

Word family

perfumed adjective

Having a pleasant smell, often from added perfume.

perfumer noun

A person who makes perfumes.

perfumery noun

The art or business of making perfumes, or a place where they are sold.

Commonly confused: perfume or fragrance?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “perfume”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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