scentlessadj.
/ˈsɛntləs/, U.S. /ˈsɛntləs/ 1. Having no odour or perfume.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > inodorousness > [adjective]
unsmellingc1440
savourless1552
scentless1605
smell-lessa1625
inodorate1626
vapidc1750
unfetid1755
unscented1785
unsmelled1812
odourless1836
perfumeless1854
incenseless1856
deodorized1875
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Triumph of Faith in tr. Deuine Weekes & Wks. 572 By Faith, three Hebrues..escape the raging Fire (Their very garments sent-lesse and entire).
1670 J. Ogilby Africa 103 Sophera..bears scentless yellow Blossoms with few Seeds.
1727 P. Shaw & E. Chambers tr. H. Boerhaave New Method Chem. iii. 12 We..call those plants scentless, which our nostrils give us no information of.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 98 Each ingredient before mixture was scentless.
1813 T. Moore Last Rose of Summer in Select. Irish Melodies 3 No. 1. 14 Where thy mates of the garden [sc. other roses] Lie scentless and dead.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 44 Flowers..scentless.
1910 Nation 13 Aug. 702/1 The hot and scentless glare of zinnias and dahlias.
1943 Times 6 Apr. 6/5 The older botanists..lumped all these scentless woodland violets together under the one species of dog violet, Viola canina.
2008 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 20 Nov. 67/3 We also had two magnolia trees, with huge but pale and scentless flowers.
2. Lacking a sense of smell or ability to follow a scent trail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > inodorousness > [adjective] > without sense of smell
scentless1606
inolfacient1822
smell-less1873
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 105 Their deafe, dull Idols, sent-les, sight-les, dumbe.
1797 R. Polwhele Old Eng. Gentleman 108 No more his hounds, a scentless crew, Brush'd with their lagging ears, as erst, the dew.
1832 W. Roane in R. Horsman Race & Manifest Destiny (1981) vii. 123 I do not believe that all men are by nature equal..[any more] than I believe the stupid scentless greyhound is equal to the noble generous dog of Newfoundland.
1870 Blaine's Encycl. Rural Sports (rev. ed.) iv. vii. 514 She is assailed on one part by dogs artificially bred with superior scenting powers, or on the other with such as, though almost scentless, are fleet as the wind.—Poor puss!!
2002 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 28 Oct. 17 An overly optimistic observer, unwittingly involved in the monkey business of seeing no evil and especially hearing no evil, even when it exists right under a scentless nose.
3. Hunting. Of or relating to hunting by scent.
a. Of terrain, air, etc.: that does not hold or carry scent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > thing hunted or game > [adjective] > scent > weak or scentless
cold1593
scentless1820
1820 H. Luttrell Advice to Julia 185 That inward chuckler when it freezes, When scentless air and hardened soil Save both his credit and his toil.
1880 ‘Brooksby’ Hunting Countries ii. 218 Foxes occasionally travel on to these scentless heights from the Vale.
1903 H. A. Bryden Hare-hunting & Harriers xvi. 272 That last shift of the unhappy chase, a run over this strange, trackless, and usually scentless stretch of shore line.
2008 R. Bass in A. Smith & S. O'Connor Wide Open ii. 71 Surely any scent molecules will be long ago atom-smashed, sliced and diced, and scrubbed scentless by this wind; but he pushes on anyway.
b. Of a period of time: characterized by conditions in which scent is not held or carried by the ground or air.
ΚΠ
1828 Sporting Mag. May 17/1 April fox-hunting never can be good; but this was a most scentless week, even in the New Forest, where hounds generally catch a scent by some means.
1885 Field 4 Apr. 428/1 That dry, scentless cycle of days.
1921 Ampleforth Jrnl. Jan. 137 On October 16th we hunted the high country, after a scentless day at Tom Smith's Cross on the previous Wednesday.
1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 30/3 They had an exciting, if rather scentless, morning, catching a brace of foxes, the last one within 20 yards of the kennel gates!
2012 M. Letts Memories Life at College Valley x. 46 The opening meet is not the best date to present the hounds with the difficulties of a hot and scentless midday.
Compounds
scentless mayweed n. a plant of Eurasia and North Africa with yellow-centred white flowers, Tripleurospermum maritimum (family Asteraceae ( Compositae)), which resembles stinking chamomile or mayweed ( Anthemis cotula) but has a less aromatic odour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > other composite plants
wild sagea1400
yellow devil's-bita1400
white golda1425
cotula1578
golden cudweed1597
golden tuft1597
rattlesnake root1682
Cape tansy?1711
hawkbit1713
ambrosia1731
cabbage tree1735
hog's eye1749
Osteospermum1754
ox-tongue1760
scentless mayweed1800
old man's beard1804
ox-eye1818
echinacea1825
sheep's beard1836
shepherd's beard1840
cat's-ear1848
goatweed1869
silversword1888
khaki bush1907
venidium1937
khaki bos1947
Namaqualand daisy1963
1800 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. X. 676 (heading) Corn feverfew. Scentless may-weed.
1857 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. III. 315 Scentless Mayweed..puzzles the young botanist by belying its name, and having an odour which, though not aromatic, is powerful and unpleasant.
1914 A. R. Horwood Story Plant Life Brit. Isles I. 140 The Scentless Mayweed..has a larger flower and a generally darker green colour [than the stinking mayweed].
2012 S. Fisher Canals of Brit. (ed. 2) l. 272/2 There is also a copse with elder, alder,..and scentless mayweed.
Derivatives
ˈscentlessness n.
ΚΠ
1837 I. Lowndes Mod. Greek & Eng. Lexicon 44/2 Άμυρισία, want of smell, scentlessness.
1910 Times 17 Sept. 4/3 Scentlessness is an absolute defect in flowers.
2002 Daily Tel. 16 July 21/4 If we buy roses from a florist, we are likely to be disappointed by their scentlessness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1605