sense of smell; olfaction
Refers to the physiological ability to detect odors; used in both everyday and scientific contexts.
Dogs have an extremely keen sense of smell.
My sense of smell became dull due to a cold.
Dogs have a keen sense of smell and can detect even faint odors.
As people age, their sense of smell can become dull.
He used his sense of smell and noticed a gas leak.
Sharks have an extremely well-developed sense of smell.
I caught a cold and lost my sense of smell.
嗅覚 is the sense of smell, whereas 視覚 is the sense of sight; both belong to the same '～覚' family of sense-organ terms, which can cause confusion.
嗅覚 denotes the sense of smell, while 聴覚 denotes the sense of hearing; they are easily confused since both are formal '～覚' terms for a specific sense.
Compound of 嗅 (kyū, 'smell') and 覚 (kaku, 'sense, perception'). The kanji 嗅 is composed of 口 (mouth) and 臭 (smell), suggesting the act of sniffing.