Word · CEFR B2 · Frequency #15260
incense
香；熏香；焚香用的香料
a substance that produces a fragrant smell when burned, used in religious ceremonies or for pleasure
- 1.
Biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt, often used in religious rites or for aesthetic reasons.
- 2.
a substance that produces a fragrant odor when burned
燃烧时产生香味的物质
- 3.
The fragrant smoke released by burning incense (sense 1).
- 4.
the pleasing scent produced when incense is burned
燃烧香时产生的怡人香味
- 5.
Homage; adulation.
焚香的烟；香气；敬意；奉承；燃烧时产生香味的物质；燃烧香时产生的怡人香味；香
In use
She lit some incense to create a calming atmosphere in the room.
The smell of burning incense filled the ancient temple.
He bought a variety of incense sticks from the market.
incense filled the room
burn/light incense
incense常用作不可数名词，但a stick of incense表示一根香。
She lit a stick of incense before meditating.
她在冥想前点燃了一根香。
the smell/aroma of incense
描述气味时常用the smell/aroma of incense。
The room was filled with the sweet aroma of incense.
房间里弥漫着香料的甜香。
incense stick/cone/coil
Connections
Collocations
- burn incense
- 烧香；焚香
- They burn incense at the temple every morning.他们每天早晨在寺庙烧香。
- incense stick
- 香；线香
- She lit an incense stick in her room.她在房间里点了一根香。
- incense burner
- 香炉
- The incense burner is made of bronze.这个香炉是青铜制成的。
- incense smoke
- 焚香的烟；香烟
- The incense smoke curled toward the ceiling.焚香的烟袅袅升向天花板。
- incense offering
- 焚香供奉；献香
- They made an incense offering at the altar.他们在祭坛前焚香供奉。
Pop culture & quotes
Learner notes
Memory Tip
把 incense 读成 in-sense：香气‘进入感官’(in your senses)，闻到的就是 incense 的香。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：religious ceremonies、home fragrance / aesthetic use、formal or literary writing (figurative praise) 作名词时，incense 通常指燃烧后散发香气的香料或香烟，常见于宗教仪式或日常薰香等较中性的场合；引申指“奉承、敬意”时多出现在正式或文学性文字中，日常口语较少。
Grammar Note
通常不可数，但指不同种类时可数，如 'various incenses'。
Pronunciation & Spelling
The noun incense is /ˈɪnsɛns/. Dense, sense, and tense are one-syllable words that end in the same /-ɛns/ sound as the final syllable of incense. Expense (/ɪkˈspɛns/), immense (/ɪˈmɛns/), and condense (/kənˈdɛns/) all keep the same /-ɛns/ ending, though the stress falls on a different syllable. Beware the heteronym: the verb incense is pronounced /ɪnˈsɛns/ with stress on the second syllable. Also, do not assume a rhyme from the spelling alone: words such as 'defense' may vary in stress and vowel by dialect, so check the pronunciation.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from AI_FALLBACK, DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WORDNET.