perfume
/ˈpɝfjuːm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.75 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines."
- "Among the Turks, an exciting compound consists of olibanum, myrrh, camphor, musk, in pulverized form. The resultant perfume is said to affect the genitals."
- "She bought a perfume at the airport."
- "The market for prestige perfumes is pretty much restricted to what industry economists call “gotrocks ladies”—women in households with annual incomes over $40,000 and who are over forty but still young enough to have a sense of smell (Elizabeth Taylor, for instance)."
- "The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɝfjuːm/
- British English: /ˈpɜːfjuːm/