Chinese word

嗅觉

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiù jué

Meaning

  • nounsense of smell

Example

他的嗅觉很灵敏。tā de xiù jué hěn líng mǐn

He has a very keen sense of smell.

Illustration for 嗅觉 (sense of smell)

More examples

他因感冒暂时失去嗅觉。tā yīn gǎn mào zàn shí shī qù xiù jué

He temporarily lost his sense of smell because of a cold.

Core concept

The nose-based sense that detects and distinguishes different smells.

Common phrases

  • 嗅觉敏锐xiù jué mǐn ruì

    keen sense of smell

  • 失去嗅觉shī qù xiù jué

    lose one's sense of smell

  • 嗅觉训练xiù jué xùn liàn

    olfactory training

Similar words

视觉shì jué: The eyes' ability to detect light and colors and see shapes and movement.
听觉tīng jué: The ears' ability to detect sounds and sense their loudness and direction.
味觉wèi jué: The tongue's ability to sense and tell apart flavors such as sweet and salty.
触觉chù jué: The skin's ability to sense contact, pressure, and temperature.

Definition in Chinese

通过鼻子感知并分辨气味的能力或感觉。tōng guò bí zi gǎn zhī bìng fēn biàn qì wèi de néng lì huò gǎn jué

Word origin

嗅觉 (xiùjué, "sense of smell") combines 嗅 (xiù, "smell") with 觉 (jué, "perception"), naming perception through smelling.

Usage tips

  • English uses smell for both an odor and the ability to detect odors, whereas this Chinese noun names the ability, so it is not the name of a particular odor.

Opposites

  • 嗅觉迟钝xiù jué chí dùndull sense of smellnoun

Related words

  • 嗅觉障碍xiù jué zhàng àiolfactory disordernoun
  • 嗅觉丧失xiù jué sàng shīloss of smellnoun

Word lists with this word