Synonyms for
Musk
Definition
a strong-smelling reddish-brown substance secreted by the male musk deer and used as a perfume fixative
Synonyms & similar words
Synonyms by register
Antonyms
Common collocations
- musk deer
- musk oil
- musk scent
- musk fragrance
- animal musk
- synthetic musk
- musk perfume
Word family
Usage note
Musk refers to a strong, penetrating odor, often associated with animal secretions used in perfumery. It can have a sensual or earthy connotation.
Example sentences
- The perfume contains a hint of musk that makes it unique.
- She enjoys the scent of musk in her candles.
- The musk deer is known for its strong-smelling secretion.
- He wore a cologne with a musk undertone.
- The musk plant is used in traditional medicine.
Quotes
A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see. The grand object of traveling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shores were the four great Empires of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. Muske, amber, and frankincense were all produced there. --Samuel Johnson
We have also sound-houses, where we practise and demonstrate all sounds, and their generation. We have harmonies which you have not, of quarter-sounds, and lesser slides of sounds. Divers instruments of music likewise to you unknown, some sweeter than any you have; with bells and rings that are dainty and sweet. We represent small sounds as great and deep, likewise great sounds extenuate and sharp; we make divers tremblings and warblings of sounds, which in their original are entire. We represent and imitate all articulate sounds and letters, and the voices and notes of beasts and birds. We have certain helps which set to the ear do further the hearing greatly. We have also divers strange and artificial echoes, reflecting the voice many times, and as it were tossing it; and some that give back the voice louder than it came, some shriller, and some deeper; yea, some rendering the voice, differing in the letters or articulate sound from that they receive. We have all means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes, in strange lines and distances. --Francis Bacon
A heart of stone, a smoking flax, a fading flower, a swelling tide, a vanishing vapor, a morning dew, a passing shadow, a melting glass, a flying arrow, a wheel in motion, a lamp flickering, a flowing stream, a transient dream, a singing bird, a breath of wind, a floating feather, and whatever else is of a like nature, all may fitly resemble a godly man passing through the various phases of his mortal life. --John Bunyan