Meaning

(pathology) Having anosmia; lacking a sense of smell..

Definitions by Sense

1. (pathology) Having anosmia; lacking a sense of smell.
2. (zoology) Lacking olfactory organs; anosmatic.
3. (pathology) A person with anosmia; a person lacking a sense of smell.

Example Sentences

He had an anosmic patient who was very fond of the bouquet of moselle. […] One gentleman fell from his horse, fractured the ethmoid bone, and became anosmic.

The possible influence of various sensory factors in migration was tested by Dodson and Leggett (1974) who compared the behaviour of ultrasonically tagged control shad with ones which had been blinded, or had the olfactory system occluded (anosmic fish), or had been subjected to both these operations. […] Both blind and blind/anosmic fish orientated into the tidal current and altered their swimming speed in relation to the speed of the tide as did intact fish.

As a first step in determining the degree of involvement of other sensory systems in the smell deficits of anosmic patients, a retrospective study was undertaken to determine if these patients could separate trigeminal and nontrigeminal odorants. […] The results of this analysis demonstrated […] that anosmic patients could separate ammonia and vinegar from the other eight odorants of the OCM [Odorant Confusion Matrix], even though these odorants are usually not correctly identified.

Klopfer and Gamble (1966) gave 16 female goats (C. hircus) 5 min of contact with their young at parturition. Nine of the mothers had been temporarily rendered anosmic (could not smell) at parturition by spraying a 10% cocaine hydrogen chloride solution into their nostrils 20–90 min prior to parturition. […] Eight of the nine females who were anosmic at parturition but could smell at reintroduction accepted their own offspring, as well as alien young during reinstatement.

The whales, porpoises and seals have however a reason that man does not possess for being anosmic. For they, in common with all the living world of earth and air, left the sea millions of years ago and, as they developed lungs with which to breathe, so did they modify their organs of smell to receive sensations from air, not water. Eons later, in comparatively recent geologic times, when these few mammals left the land and returned to the water, this differentiation for air-smelling had gone too far. Their senses of smell failed to react to water-borne stimuli. […] It is worth discussing these anosmic animals, and what caused them to lose the sense of smell.

Even in the totally anosmic whale without an olfactory nerve, bulb, or tract, it is noteworthy that the third-order neurons of the olfactory system still persist.

Because dolphins are regarded as anosmic, because the animals usually swallow fish and other food whole without mastication, and because, until recently, taste buds had not been found in the tongue of several dolphin species, some cetologists have doubted that the animals possess the sense of taste.

A person who has lost the sense of smell (an anosmic) is deprived of more than pleasurable sensations, for it has been argued that as the environment becomes more polluted what the nose knows may have to be taken seriously[…].

Word Forms

• more anosmic
• most anosmic
• anosmics

Synonyms for anosmic

Antonyms for anosmic

Related Words

When Should You Use Anosmic?

Use anosmic when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions