What does redolent mean?
Word: Redolent
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Redolent means smelling strongly of something, or making you think of it.
How do you spell redolent?
Syllables: red - o - lent
Tricky part: The last syllable is weak, so students guess between ant and ent. The answer is ent.
Watch out for: redolant, redolint
Memory tip: Say to yourself: redolent means scent. Then underline the last three letters of both words and see that they match.
Redolent in a sentence
Example 1: The kitchen was redolent of cardamom and fresh coffee.
Example 2: The hills after rain are redolent of wet earth and pine.
Example 3: My grandfather's old trunk is still redolent of camphor.
Fun Fact
Olfactory, the science word for anything to do with our sense of smell, grew from the same family of Latin words as this adjective.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
r_d_lent
a) e, o
b) a, o
c) i, o
d) e, a
Show answer
a) e, o. The first syllable sounds like the colour of a tomato.
Mingle-Mangle
Which word do the jumbled letters in the sentence spell?
The market on the coast is dtoelenr of dried fish and salt.
a) insolent
b) indolent
c) repellent
d) redolent
Show answer
d) redolent. These eight letters hold a d, an o and an r, and only one choice can be built from them.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word redolent as used in the sentence:
Her stories are redolent of long summers at her grandmother's house in Kerala.
a) careless
b) ignorant
c) tired
d) reminiscent
Show answer
d) reminiscent. Stories that bring those summers to mind are reminiscent of them.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. reddolent 2. aficionado 3. cantankerous 4. harangue
a) bad-tempered and ready to complain
b) a long, loud speech aimed at people
c) filled with a scent or a memory
d) a keen admirer of an activity
Show answer
c) filled with a scent or a memory. The first syllable needs just one d, which makes this adjective the word to define.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What could be described as redolent of the sea?
a) a new pencil box from the shop
b) a fisherman's old woollen jersey
c) a glass of cold milk at bedtime
d) a page of a maths exercise book
Show answer
b) a fisherman's old woollen jersey
2. A village fair that is redolent of the past ____.
a) has only brand-new rides
b) is closed to older people
c) brings older days to mind
d) ended many years ago
Show answer
c) brings older days to mind
