กลิ่น
smell
Native recording
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- 1 smell、scent、odor
A general, neutral word for something perceived through the nose, including pleasant scents, unpleasant odors, and smells with no particular positive or negative quality.
smell、scent、odor
Something given off by a person, object, food, or place and perceived through the nose. The word itself does not say whether the smell is pleasant or unpleasant.
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กลิ่นกาแฟ klìn kaafɛɛ the smell of coffee กลิ่นกาแฟ details
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ดอกไม้นี้มีกลิ่นหอม dɔ̀ɔkmáay níi mii klìn hɔ̌ɔm This flower smells nice. ดอกไม้นี้มีกลิ่นหอม details
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ฉันได้กลิ่นแก๊ส chǎn dây klìn kɛ́ɛs I can smell gas. ฉันได้กลิ่นแก๊ส details
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ในห้องมีกลิ่นเหม็น nay hɔ̂ŋ mii klìn měn There is a bad smell in the room. ในห้องมีกลิ่นเหม็น details
Learning notes
Explanation
กลิ่น is an everyday noun covering pleasant scents, unpleasant odors, and neutral smells. Its quality is usually specified with another word, as in กลิ่นหอม “a pleasant scent,” กลิ่นเหม็น “a bad smell,” กลิ่นฉุน “a strong, sharp smell,” and กลิ่นอ่อน ๆ “a faint smell.” Common patterns include มีกลิ่น “to have a smell,” ได้กลิ่น “to smell or detect an odor,” ดมกลิ่น “to sniff,” and ส่งกลิ่น “to give off a smell.” For the figurative sense of an air, flavor, or lingering trace of something, the compound กลิ่นอาย is generally more natural than กลิ่น alone.
Usage
It is used in everyday conversation about the smell of food, drinks, flowers, perfume, people, rooms, smoke, gas, and many other things. It is also common when choosing a fragrance or warning someone about an unpleasant or potentially dangerous odor.
Caution
กลิ่น by itself does not necessarily mean a pleasant scent; use กลิ่นหอม or หอม when that meaning needs to be explicit. Depending on context, มีกลิ่น can politely imply that something smells unpleasant. For the deliberate action “to sniff,” use ดม rather than treating กลิ่น as a verb.