Creative Writing Sensory Experience

Welcome to our massive list of sensory words — your comprehensive resource for adding vivid sensory details to your prose.

It's almost too easy.

By using sensory words to evoke the sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell; smart and attractive writers just like you are able to make their words burst to life in their reader's mind.

In this post, you'll learn:

• The science behind sensory details (e.g. why sensory words are so persuasive);
• The definition of sensory details (plus examples);
• How answering five simple questions will help you write descriptive details that pack your content with sensory language;
• 500+ sensory words you can incorporate into your own vocabulary and writing (right now).

Let's dive in.

Free Bonus:

Click here

to download all 583 sensory words as a handy, free PDF.

The Colossal Power of Sensory Details

Remember the final scene in Field of Dreams when Ray Kinsella has a catch with his dad?

You can smell the grass on the field.

You can hear the sound of the baseball hitting their gloves.

And you can feel Ray's years of guilt melting away as he closes his eyes, smiles, and tosses the ball back to his dad.

(Be honest. You're crying right now, aren't you?)

Field of Dreams made you feel like you were in Ray's shoes, on his field, playing catch with dad.

The scene creates such a vivid sensory experience for many viewers that whenever they think of playing catch, this scene will come up alongside their own childhood memories.

Here's why:

When you paint a strong scene in your reader's imagination, you make it easier for them to pull it back up from their memory. You've essentially bookmarked it for them so they can easily find it when something — a sight, a smell, a sound — reminds them of it.

That's the power of content that incorporates sensory details.

And this power isn't limited to cinema classics capable of making grown men cry. For centuries, literary giants have been packing their prose and poetry with power words that evoke the senses:

"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial"
— William Shakespeare (circa 1599)

In addition to The Bard, authors like Maya Angelou, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens excel at the use of sensory language. So do literally every famous poet you learned about in school.

And that begs the obvious question…

Why are Sensory Details so Effective?

Short answer:

The brains of human beings handle sensory words differently than ordinary words.

In a 2011 study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, experts found that our brains process "tangible" (i.e. sensory) words faster than other words.

And in a study published for Brain and Language in 2012, psychologists found that a certain part of our brain is "activated" when we read sensory words.

In other words:

So, we know why sensory details are powerful. And we know writers have been tapping into their power for a long, long time.

Now let's define them and go over a few examples:

What are Sensory Details?

Sensory details are descriptive words that appeal to the 5 senses — using sensory imagery, they describe how we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the world around us.

And, although sensory details are often adjectives, they can also take the form of verbs and adverbs.

Let's break each one down:

1. Sight Sensory Words

Words related to vision describe the appearance of something (its color, size, shape, and so on).

Sight word examples:

• Her golden hair looked disheveled thanks to the gust of wind.
• He was a towering presence.
• I ordered a large orange juice, but the waiter brought me a teeny-tiny glass the size of a thimble.

2. Sound Sensory Words

Words related to hearing often describe the sound they make (known as onomatopoeia), but this isn't always the case.

Examples of hearing words:

• He had a big, booming voice.
• The sound of screeching tires was soon followed by the deafening sound of a car horn.
• As I peeked under the bed, the cackling laughter coming from the closet made the hairs on my arms stand up.

3. Touch Sensory Words

Touch words describe the texture of how something feels. They can also describe emotional feelings.

Examples of touch words:

• Two minutes into the interview, I knew his abrasive personality would be an issue if we hired him.
• With a forced smile, I put on the itchy Christmas sweater my grandmother bought me.
• The Hot Pocket was scalding on the outside, but ice-cold in the middle.

4. Taste Sensory Words

Taste words are interesting. Though they can describe food, they're often used in comparisons and metaphors.

Examples of taste words:

• It's a bittersweet situation.
• Her zesty personality caught Karl's eye.
• The scrumptious jalapeno poppers comforted Karl after his bitter rejection.

Click here to see all 51 taste sensory words

1. Acidic
2. Appetizing
3. Bitter
4. Bittersweet
5. Bland
6. Buttery
7. Charred
8. Contaminated
9. Creamy
10. Crispy
11. Delectable
12. Delicious
13. Doughy
14. Earthy
15. Fermented
16. Flavorful
17. Flavorless
18. Floury
19. Garlicky
20. Gingery
21. Gritty
22. Hearty
23. Juicy
24. Luscious
25. Medicinal
26. Mellow
27. Melted
28. Nauseating
29. Nutritious
30. Nutty
31. Palatable
32. Peppery
33. Pickled
34. Piquant
35. Raw
36. Refreshing
37. Rich
38. Ripe
39. Salted
40. Savory
41. Scrumptious
42. Stale
43. Sugary
44. Syrupy
45. Tangy
46. Tart
47. Tasteless
48. Unripe
49. Vinegary
50. Yummy
51. Zesty

5. Smell Sensory Words

Words related to smell describe — yes, you guessed it — how things smell. Often underutilized, sensory words connected with smell can be very effective.

Examples of smell words:

• The pungent smell was unmistakable: someone in this elevator was wearing Axe Body Spray.
• No matter the expiration date, it was clear from its rancid stench the milk had gone bad.
• The flowery aroma was a welcome change after the elevator and milk incidents.

Click here to see all 47 smell sensory words

1. Ambrosial
2. Antiseptic
3. Aroma
4. Aromatic
5. Briny
6. Citrusy
7. Decayed
8. Decomposed
9. Doggy
10. Fetid
11. Floral
12. Flowery
13. Foul-smelling
14. Fragrant
15. Gamy
16. Gaseous
17. Horrid
18. Inodorous
19. Malodorous
20. Mephitic
21. Musky
22. Musty
23. Odiferous
24. Odor
25. Odorless
26. Old
27. Perfumed
28. Piney
29. Polluted
30. Pungent
31. Putrid
32. Rancid
33. Rank
34. Redolent
35. Reeking
36. Scent
37. Scented
38. Sickly
39. Skunky
40. Smell
41. Smoky
42. Stagnant
43. Stench
44. Stinky
45. Sweaty
46. Tempting
47. Whiff

Bonus: Taste and Smell Sensory Words

Because they're closely related, some sensory words can be used for both taste and smell. Examples: fruity, minty, and tantalizing.

Click here to see all 16 taste & smell sensory words

1. Acrid
2. Burnt
3. Fishy
4. Fresh
5. Fruity
6. Lemony
7. Minty
8. Moldy
9. Mouth-watering
10. Rotten
11. Salty
12. Sour
13. Spicy
14. Spoiled
15. Sweet
16. Tantalizing

Next, we'll look at a few real-world examples of sensory details.

Sensory Details: Examples in the Wild

Imagine the following headline came across your Twitter feed:

How to Avoid Using Boring Stock Photo Images in Your Content

Would you click it?

Better question…

Could you read the headline without falling asleep?

The answers are probably "no" and "heck no."

Now imagine you saw this headline:

Much better, right?

The simple addition of the sensory word "cringeworthy" changes the tone of the entire headline. Instead of yawning, you're thinking of an awkward or embarrassing moment you really don't want to relive.

Let's look at a few more modern-day examples of sharp people using sensory language to spruce up their content:

Using Sensory Words in Author Bios

I'll pick on me for this one.

Here's one of my old author bios:

Kevin J. Duncan is the Editor of Smart Blogger, where he helps writers learn the skills they need to land writing gigs that pay.

Now look at the author bio my friend Henneke wrote for Writer's Block: 27 Techniques to Overcome It Forever:

Henneke Duistermaat is an irreverent copywriter and business writing coach. She's on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook and to make boring business blogs sparkle.

My bio is devoid of sensory words (or any interesting words at all, if we're being honest).

Henneke's is chock full of them.

Her bio is interesting.

Mine is boring.

The lesson? Add at least one sensory word to your author bio.

Using Sensory Words in Social Media Profiles

Some people opt for brevity when writing their social media profiles, and that's fine.

But if you want your Twitter profile (or Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media profile) to stand out from the crowd, sprinkle in a sensory word or two.

Like so:

Mel Wicks is a veteran copywriter who knows a thing or two about the effectiveness of descriptive detail, so she uses them to spice up her Twitter profile.

Here's an example from my badly-neglected Instagram account:

"Enchanting" and "adorably-jubilant" are wonderful sensory words — so wonderful, it's a shame they're wasted on a profile no one sees.

Look at your own profiles and see if there's a place to add a sensory word or two. They'll help your profile jump off the screen.

Heck, see if you can use enchanting and adorably-jubilant.

They deserve to be seen.

Using Sensory Words in Introductions

The opening lines of your content are so important.

If you're a student, your opening sets the tone for your teacher (who we both know is dying to use his red pen).

If you're an author, your opening can be the difference between someone buying (and reading) your book or putting it back on the shelf in favor of one of those Twilight books (probably).

And if you're a blogger, writer, content marketer, or business; your opening sentence can hook the reader's interest (increasing dwell time, which is great in Google's eyes) or send them scurrying for the "back" button.

It's why we put such an emphasis on introductions here at Smart Blogger.

Sometimes our openings hook you with a question.

Sometimes we strike a note of empathy or (like this post) focus on searcher intent.

And sometimes we give you a heaping helping of sensory words:

Imagine you're sitting in a lounge chair on the beach, staring out over the glittering sea, the ocean breeze ruffling your hair, listening to the slow, steady rhythm of the waves.

In the above opening for How to Become a Freelance Writer, Starting from Scratch, Jon Morrow uses figurative language to set a scene for the reader.

And it's highly, highly effective.

Using Sensory Words in Email Subject Lines

Like you, your readers are flooded with emails.

And with open rates in a steady decline, people are trying anything and everything to make their email subject lines stand out:

• Emojis;
• Capitalized words;
• All lowercase letters;
• Two exclamation points;
• Clickbait that would make even BuzzFeed go, "that's too far, man."

You name it, people are trying it.

Want a simpler, far-more-effective way to help your emails stand out from the crowd?

Add a sensory detail.

Brian Dean loves to include words like "boom" in his subjects:

The folks at AppSumo and Sumo (formerly SumoMe) regularly feature descriptive words in their subjects and headlines.

Here's one example:

And sensory language appears in most everything Henneke writes, including her subject lines.

In this one she also uses an emoji related to her sensory word. Very clever:

Now that we've covered several examples, let's dig a bit deeper…

Let's discuss some practical steps you can take that will make adding figurative language to your own writing style a breeze:

How Descriptive Details Can Pack Your Writing With Sensory Language

If you've taken a good English or creative writing class, you've probably been told a time or two to "show, don't tell."

This means you should create an engaging experience for your audience; not just tell them what you want them to know.

You accomplish this by using descriptive writing that conveys sensations and lets readers experience your words (rather than simply read them).

And how do you do that, exactly?

Ask yourself these five questions when you're writing:

#1. What Do You See?

It isn't enough to tell your readers there was a scary house in your neighborhood when you were a child. Describe the house to them in vivid detail.

What shade of gray was it?

Were the doors boarded up?

Precisely how many ghostly figures did you and the neighbor kids see staring at you from the upstairs bedroom windows, and how many are standing behind you right now?

Paint a mental picture for your readers.

#2. What Do You Hear?

We listen to uptempo songs to push us through cardio workouts. Many of us listen to rainfall when we're trying to sleep. Some of us listen to Justin Bieber when we want to punish our neighbors.

Want to transplant readers into your literary world?

Talk about the drip, drip, drip of the faucet.

Mention the squeaking floors beneath your feet.

Describe the awful music coming from your next-door neighbor's house.

#3. How Does it Feel?

Touch sensory words can convey both tactile and emotional sensations.

Can you describe to the reader how something feels when touched? Is it smooth or rough? Round or flat? Is it covered in goo or is it goo-less?

Paint a picture for your reader so they can touch what you're touching.

The same goes for emotion. Help the reader feel what you (or your character) are feeling. Draw them in.

#4. What Does it Taste Like?

Does the beach air taste salty? Is the roaring fire so intense you can taste the smoke? Is the smell of your roommate's tuna fish sandwich so strong you can taste it from across the room?

Tell your audience.

Be descriptive.

Make them taste the fishiness.

#5. How Does it Smell?

It wasn't a basement you walked into — it was a musty, moldy basement.

And you didn't simply enjoy your Mom's homemade lasagna. You inhaled the aromatic scents of sauce, cheese, and basil.

Evoking the sense of smell is possibly the most effective way to pull readers out of their world and into yours.

So when you sit down to write, ask yourself if it's possible to describe how something smells. And if you can? Do it.

The Massive Sensory Words List: 583 (and Counting) Descriptive Words to Supercharge Your Writing With Sensory Language

Once you've asked and answered the five questions above, your writing will be packed with sensory details.

In time, you'll build up your own massive list of sensory words you can reference and sprinkle throughout your work (no thesaurus needed!).

But in the meantime, here's my list.

Bookmark them.

Print them.

Freebie:

Click here

to download a handy PDF for all 583 sensory words.

Use them often:

SIGHT WORDS	SOUND WORDS
Angular	Babble
Azure	Bang
Billowy	Barking
Black	Bawled
Bleary	Bawling
Bloated	Bellow
Blonde	Blare
Blue	Blaring
Blurred	Bleat
Blushing	Boom
Branching	Booming
Bright	Bray
Brilliant	Buzz
Broad	Buzzing
Brown	Cackle
Brunette	Cackling
Bulbous	Chatter
Bulky	Chattering
Camouflaged	Cheer
Chubby	Chiming
Circular	Chirping
Colorful	Chuckle
Colorless	Clamor
Colossal	Clang
Contoured	Clanging
Cosmic	Clap
Craggy	Clapping
Crimson	Clicking
Crinkled	Clink
Crooked	Clinking
Crowded	Cooing
Crystalline	Coughing
Curved	Crackle
Dark	Crackling
Dazzling	Crashing
Deep	Creak
Dim	Croaking
Dingy	Crow
Disheveled	Crunch
Distinct	Crunching
Drab	Crunchy
Dreary	Cry
Dull	Crying
Dusty	Deafening
Elegant	Distorted
Enchanting	Dripping
Engaging	Ear-piercing
Enormous	Earsplitting
Faded	Exploding
Fancy	Faint
Fat	Fizzing
Filthy	Gagging
Flashy	Gasping
Flat	Giggle
Flickering	Giggling
Foggy	Grate
Forked	Grating
Freckled	Growl
Fuzzy	Grumble
Gargantuan	Grunt
Gaudy	Grunting
Gigantic	Guffaw
Ginormous	Gurgle
Glamorous	Gurgling
Gleaming	Hanging
Glimpse	Hiss
Glistening	Hissing
Glitter	Honking
Glittering	Howl
Globular	Hubbub
Gloomy	Hum
Glossy	Humming
Glowing	Hush
Gold	Jabber
Graceful	Jangle
Gray	Jangling
Green	Laughing
Grotesque	Moaning
Hazy	Monotonous
Hollow	Mooing
Homely	Muffled
Huge	Mumble
Illuminated	Mumbling
Immense	Murmur
Indistinct	Mutter
Ivory	Muttering
Knotty	Noisy
Lacy	Peeping
Lanky	Piercing
Large	Ping
Lavender	Pinging
Lean	Plopping
Lithe	Pop
Little	Purring
Lofty	Quacking
Long	Quiet
Low	Rant
Malnourished	Rapping
Maroon	Rasping
Massive	Raucous
Miniature	Rave
Misshapen	Ringing
Misty	Roar
Motionless	Roaring
Mottled	Rumble
Mountainous	Rumbling
Muddy	Rustle
Murky	Rustling
Narrow	Scratching
Obtuse	Scream
Olive	Screaming
Opaque	Screech
Orange	Screeching
Oval	Serene
Pale	Shout
Peered	Shouting
Petite	Shrieking
Pink	Shrill
Portly	Sigh
Pristine	Silent
Prodigious	Sing
Purple	Singing
Quaint	Sizzling
Radiant	Slam
Rectangular	Slamming
Red	Snap
Reddish	Snappy
Rippling	Snoring
Rotund	Snort
Round	Splashing
Ruby	Squawking
Ruddy	Squeaky
Rusty	Stammer
Sabotaged	Stomp
Shadowy	Storm
Shallow	Stuttering
Shapeless	Tearing
Sheer	Thudding
Shimmering	Thump
Shiny	Thumping
Short	Thunder
Silver	Thundering
Skinny	Ticking
Small	Tingling
Smudged	Tinkling
Soaring	Twitter
Sparkling	Twittering
Sparkly	Wail
Spherical	Warbling
Spotless	Wheezing
Spotted	Whimper
Square	Whimpering
Steep	Whine
Stormy	Whining
Straight	Whir
Strange	Whisper
Striped	Whispering
Sunny	Whistle
Swooping	Whooping
Tall	Yell
Tapering	Yelp
Tarnished
Teeny-tiny
Tiny
Towering
Translucent
Transparent
Triangular
Turquoise
Twinkling
Twisted
Ugly
Unsightly
Unusual
Vibrant
Vivid
Weird
White
Wide
Wiry
Wispy
Wizened
Wrinkled
Wrinkly
Yellow
TOUCH WORDS	TASTE WORDS
Abrasive	Acidic
Balmy	Appetizing
Biting	Bitter
Boiling	Bittersweet
Breezy	Bland
Bristly	Buttery
Bubbly	Charred
Bubby	Contaminated
Bumpy	Creamy
Burning	Crispy
Bushy	Delectable
Chilled	Delicious
Chilly	Doughy
Clammy	Earthy
Coarse	Fermented
Cold	Flavorful
Cool	Flavorless
Cottony	Floury
Crawly	Garlicky
Creepy	Gingery
Cuddly	Gritty
Cushioned	Hearty
Damp	Juicy
Dank	Luscious
Dirty	Medicinal
Downy	Mellow
Drenched	Melted
Dry	Nauseating
Elastic	Nutritious
Feathery	Nutty
Feverish	Palatable
Fine	Peppery
Fleshy	Pickled
Fluff	Piquant
Fluffy	Raw
Foamy	Refreshing
Fragile	Rich
Freezing	Ripe
Furry	Salty/Salted
Glassy	Savory
Gluey	Scrumptious
Gooey	Stale
Grainy	Sugary
Greasy	Syrupy
Gritty	Tangy
Gushy	Tart
Hairy	Tasteless
Heavy	Unripe
Hot	Vinegary
Humid	Yummy
Ice-Cold	Zesty
Icy
Itchy
Knobbed
Leathery
Light
Lightweight
Limp
Lukewarm
Lumpy
Matted
Metallic
Moist
Mushy
Numbing
Oily
Plastic
Pointed
Powdery
Pulpy
Rocky
Rough
Rubbery
Sandy
Scalding
Scorching
Scratchy
Scummy
Serrated
Shaggy
Sharp
Shivering
Shivery
Silky
Slimy
Slippery
Sloppy
Smooth
Smothering
Soapy
Soft
Sopping
Soupy
Splintery
Spongy
Springy
Sputter
Squashy
Squeal
Squishy
Steamy
Steely
Sticky
Stifled
Stifling
Stinging
Stony
Stubby
Tangled
Tapered
Tender
Tepid
Thick
Thin
Thorny
Tickling
Tough
Unsanitary
Velvety
Warm
Waxy
Wet
Woolly
SMELL WORDS	TASTE & SMELL WORDS
Ambrosial	Acrid
Antiseptic	Burnt
Aroma	Fishy
Aromatic	Fresh
Briny	Fruity
Citrusy	Lemony
Decayed	Minty
Decomposed	Moldy
Doggy	Mouth-watering
Fetid	Rotten
Floral	Salty
Flowery	Sour
Foul-smelling	Spicy
Fragrant	Spoiled
Gamy	Sweet
Gaseous	Tantalizing
Horrid
Inodorous
Malodorous
Mephitic
Musky
Musty
Odiferous
Odor
Odorless
Old
Perfumed
Piney
Polluted
Pungent
Putrid
Rancid
Rank
Redolent
Reeking
Scent
Scented
Sickly
Skunky
Smell
Smoky
Stagnant
Stench
Stinky
Sweaty
Tempting
Whiff

Are You Ready to Unleash the Power of Sensory Details?

It's time to say goodbye.

Goodbye to lifeless words that sit on the page.

Goodbye to indifferent readers ready to move on to something, anything, else.

You now know why sensory details are so effective. You know how to sprinkle descriptive words throughout your content. And you now have a massive, ever-growing list of sensory words to bookmark and come back to again and again.

Variations of the following quote have been attributed to everyone from Carl W. Buehner to Maya Angelou, but regardless of who said it, and how they said it, it's true:

"People may forget what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel."

It's time to make your readers feel.

Are you ready?

Then let's do this thing.

Creative Writing Sensory Experience

Source: https://smartblogger.com/sensory-words/

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