duftend

Duftend is a German adjective formed from the verb duften, meaning to emit a pleasant scent. It translates roughly to fragrant or scented in English and is used to describe things that give off a noticeable, pleasant odor. The related noun is Duft, meaning fragrance or scent, and Duftstoffe are components that create or carry scent, such as in perfumes, cosmetics, and foods.

Usage of Duftend is common in descriptive prose. It appears attributively before a noun, for example, duftende Blumen (fragrant flowers) or duftende Gewürze (fragrant spices). In predicative constructions, the more common form is to use the verb duften: Die Blumen duften. The participial adjective form Duftend can occur in literary or elevated language to emphasize the state of emitting aroma, as in Die Luft war duftend.

Etymology traces Duftend to the verb duften, which itself is rooted in the Germanic language family and is closely related to the noun Duft. The term is widely used in contexts involving flowers, perfumes, food flavors, and descriptions of atmosphere or mood, especially where a positive olfactory impression is intended.

Related terms include wohlriechend (pleasant-smelling) and aromatisch (aromatic). Antonyms include stinkend (smelling bad) or unangenehm riechend (unpleasantly scented). Duftend is primarily a descriptive, literary, or marketing-friendly word in German, less common in everyday speech compared with more direct verbs like duften or adjectives like duftend used in standard phrasing.