Redolent means having a strong smell or scent, usually a pleasant one. When your grandmother's kitchen is redolent of freshly baked cookies, the warm, sweet smell fills the entire room. A garden might be redolent of roses in June, or a pizzeria redolent of melting cheese and tomato sauce.

The word often appears in descriptive writing because it suggests that the scent is rich, noticeable, and evocative. When an author writes that a forest path was redolent of pine needles and damp earth, you can almost smell it yourself.

Redolent can also mean strongly suggestive or reminiscent of something. An old photograph might be redolent of a bygone era, meaning it powerfully calls that time period to mind. A dusty attic, redolent of forgotten memories, doesn't just smell old; it makes you think of the past in a vivid way. The word combines both the physical sensation of smell and the emotional experience of remembering or imagining.