I. per ‧ fume 1 /ˈpɜːfjuːm $ ˈpɜːr-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: parfum , probably from Old Provençal perfumar 'to perfume' , from Latin fumare 'to smoke' ]
1 . a liquid with a strong pleasant smell that women put on their skin or clothing to make themselves smell nice SYN scent :
She was wearing the perfume that he’d bought her.
2 . a sweet or pleasant smell SYN scent :
It had the delicate perfume of roses.
—perfumed adjective :
perfumed soap
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ wear perfume
What's that perfume you are wearing?
▪ dab perfume on something (=quickly put perfume on )
She dabbed some perfume on her throat.
▪ spray yourself with perfume
Jody sprayed herself with some of her mother’s perfume.
▪ reek of perfume (=smell strongly of perfume)
It seemed to Polly that Sasha always left the bathroom reeking of horrible perfume.
▪ smell of perfume
Her coat smelt of cheap perfume and cigarettes.
■ adjectives
▪ strong
I don't like wearing very strong perfume.
▪ heavy (=strong)
She smelled of a heavy perfume he associated with his mother.
▪ exotic (=unusual and interesting because it seems foreign)
The dancer left a waft of exotic perfume in the air.
▪ cheap/expensive
He bought her a bottle of expensive French perfume.
■ phrases
▪ a bottle/jar of perfume
He gave me a bottle of my favourite perfume.
▪ the smell/scent of perfume
The smell of perfume filled the air.
▪ a whiff/hint of perfume (=a very slight smell of perfume )
As she lifted the letter, she caught the faintest hint of perfume.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ adjectives
▪ sweet
She breathed in the sweet perfume of the roses.
▪ heady (=strong and sweet)
In early summer, lilacs finally open and release their heady perfume.
▪ faint
the faint perfume of a spring woodland
▪ delicate
The flowers have a delicate perfume similar to cowslips.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose:
the smell from the kitchen
|
What’s that awful smell?
|
the sweet smell of roses
▪ whiff something that you smell for a short time:
He caught a whiff of her perfume.
|
a whiff of apple blossom
▪ scent a smell – used especially about the pleasant smell from flowers, plants, or fruit. Also used about the smell left by an animal:
The rose had a beautiful scent.
|
Cats use their scent to mark their territory.
|
the sharp, dying scent of autumn
|
the heady scent (=strong scent) of magnolias
▪ fragrance/perfume a pleasant smell, especially from flowers, plants, or fruit. Fragrance and perfume are more formal than scent :
the sweet perfume of the orange blossoms
|
Each mango has its own special fragrance.
▪ aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee:
the aroma of fresh coffee
|
The kitchen was filled with the aroma of mince pies.
▪ odour British English , odor American English formal an unpleasant smell:
An unpleasant odour was coming from the dustbins.
|
the odor of stale tobacco smoke
▪ pong British English informal an unpleasant smell:
What’s that horrible pong?
▪ stink/stench a very strong and unpleasant smell:
I couldn’t get rid of the stink of sweat.
|
The toilet gave off a terrible stench.
II. per ‧ fume 2 /ˈpɜːfjuːm $ pərˈfjuːm/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . literary to make a place have a sweet pleasant smell:
Lilacs perfumed the air.
2 . to put perfume on something