ambientador
/ambjentaˈdoɾ/
The Spanish phrase for air freshener is ambientador.
ambientador refers to a product used to make the air in a room or vehicle smell pleasant.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is formed from ambiente (environment/ambience) and the suffix -ador, which denotes an agent or tool. It literally means 'an agent that creates ambience'.
Which one should you use?
While ambientador is the standard term, you may also see desodorante de ambiente used to describe a product that deodorizes a room.
How does it change in a sentence?
To form the plural ambientadores, add -es to the end of the word.
How do you pronounce it?
/ambjentaˈdoɾ/
Did you know?
- The word ambientar means 'to set the scene' or 'to create an atmosphere', so an ambientador is technically a tool used to perform a stage-like transformation of a space.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, if a room smells bad, people might ask for a desodorante to fix it, even though that word usually refers to body deodorant in English.
- The word ambiente refers not just to the air, but to the general 'atmosphere' or 'vibe' of a social situation.
Examples in context
- Disculpe, ¿venden desodorizadores de ambiente?Excuse me, do you sell air fresheners?
- ¿Me prestas tu ambientador un momento?Can you lend me your air freshener for a moment?
- Compré un ambientador de lavanda.I bought a lavender air freshener.
- ¿Dónde pusiste el ambientador del coche?Where did you put the car air freshener?
- Este ambientador tiene un olor muy fuerte.This air freshener has a very strong scent.
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are cleaning their living room.
- Lucía¿Tienes un ambientador para la sala?Do you have an air freshener for the living room?
- JavierSí, tengo uno de vainilla en el armario.Yes, I have a vanilla one in the closet.
- LucíaPerfecto, ponlo para que huela bien.Perfect, use it so it smells good.
- JavierClaro, lo pondré ahora mismo.Sure, I will put it on right now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ambientador, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
