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How can I refer to a nose in a pleasing manner?

English Language & Usage Asked on June 26, 2021

I’m trying to figure out a word that describes a nose in a pleasing way. I.e.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the __ of passers by.

Nasal cavity — too scientific, beak/snout — too animalistic, nose — too boring.

5 Answers

There is nothing wrong with nose. It is a perfectly polite, well brought up and pleasant word. It has no unpleasant connotations that I am aware of. If you really really don't want to use it, you could wax a little lyrical like so

The smell of freshly baked bread tickled the olfactory nerves of passers by.

This, however, is stilted and sounds pretentious. My friendly thesaurus (whom I recommend you befriend yourself) suggests:

adenoids, beak, bill*, horn, muzzle, nares, nostrils, olfactory nerves, proboscis, schnoz, smeller, sneezer, sniffer, snoot, snout, snuffer, whiffer

Of all these words, the best is the simple nose. I don't know why you are prejudiced against it.

Answered by terdon on June 26, 2021

While nose is indeed ok, and perhaps is best among it and its synonyms, you might metonymically or synecdochically use the word face instead. For example,

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the smiling, uplifted faces of passersby.

Answered by James Waldby - jwpat7 on June 26, 2021

Why do you think that nose is "on the nose' ? Just being a little nosy. I think "wafted" is a rather ordinary word that is overused. I would prefer something a bit more imaginative, for example, the smell of bread tantalized passers by.

Answered by Chris on June 26, 2021

I'd go a little more fanciful, yet, and say:

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the deepest pleasure senses and happy memories of the passers by.

Answered by Kristina Lopez on June 26, 2021

I think what you are trying to say is that you want a "cuter" substitution for nose. While not as commonly used, I think the word "neb" might suit you here.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the nebs of passers by.

Answered by eazar001 on June 26, 2021

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