whiff

A whiff is a faint smell caught for a moment. A whiff of smoke, catch a whiff, the first whiff of spring.

It is brief and slight, which is what separates it from a smell or a stink. A whiff of something figuratively means the faintest suggestion: a whiff of scandal, a whiff of panic. In American baseball slang, to whiff is to swing and miss. Note whiffy, which is British informal for smelling bad; and that the word is imitative of a small puff of air.