Fragrant means having a pleasant, sweet smell. A fragrant flower fills the air with perfume, making you want to lean in and breathe deeply. Freshly baked cookies are fragrant. So is a pine forest after rain, or a basket of ripe peaches at the farmer's market.

The word specifically describes good smells, the kind that make you feel happy or hungry or peaceful. You wouldn't call garbage fragrant, even though it has a strong smell. Fragrant things smell appealing: jasmine blossoms, cinnamon rolls, your grandmother's garden in summer, or clean laundry dried in the sun.

When something is fragrant, its smell often spreads through the air. One fragrant honeysuckle bush can make an entire yard smell sweet. A single fragrant orange being peeled can make everyone in the room notice. The word captures both the pleasantness of the smell and the way it reaches out to you, announcing itself before you even see the source.