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I know you can say things like:

The only whiff of disorientation came from the hundreds of eggs littered around the stage [...] The only whiff of homophobia came from the Library's old-fashioned internal printing shop. [...]

These are usually abstract concepts (I may be mistaken). Is it common to use the same construction to refer to something physical like a class?

Example:

The only whiff of chemistry class came from the periodic table next to the window.

(There wasn't anything in the classroom that told students that that was a chemistry class, except for the periodic table next to the window.)

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    Yep, that's fine too, but you're still talking about something abstract: the experience, recollection, or notion of chemistry class. It's not like a tiny waft of physical chemistry-class-particles are emanating from the poster. It's conjuring up an idea in your head. Sub-note: the word whiff and the word eggs are both strongly associated with smells, so that blocks and makes awkward the notion of disorientation used in your first sentence. If I had written that sentence, I'd probably reconsider and rewrite it.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 12:40
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    And whiff is generally an unpleasant smell, so it may be appropriate for homophobia, but I'd use "sign" or "evidence" or some such for the chemistry class.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 12:42
  • @Dan Bron Oh, I see. Yes, I was thinking about the class as something physical: the professor, students, but I think you're right too.
    – wyc
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 12:43
  • "faint scent" used figuratively. "Can it be used?" People will disagree over whether the writer's style is worthy of emulation.
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 13:04
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    @AndrewLeach: I don't agree that whiff generally refers to an unpleasant smell. Can you please point to something that supports that assertion? It is true that for a pleasant odor one is more likely to breathe in longer than a quick whiff, and one is not likely to intentionally get more than a whiff of an unpleasant smell. But that's the only connection I see.
    – Drew
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 17:55

2 Answers 2

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There is not much doubt that "whiff" is neutral. It means a small and elusive quantity of a smell of something.

If you are asking if the smell can be of something concrete then

MW:

Examples of whiff in a Sentence

Noun

I got a whiff of new paint when I entered the room.

And titles from Google books:

"A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems" Deborah Ruddell · 2009

"Get a Whiff of This: Perfumes (Fragrances) - The Invisible Chemical Poisons" By Connie Pitts 2003

"A Whiff of Jasmine" Samantha Tamma · 2015

Somewhere, sometime, when am busy meeting a deadline or a target, this backdrop appears to me like flashes of memories, a favourite background score or a Whiff of Jasmine.

New paint, pine, perfume and jasmine all appear to be pleasant enough and all seem to be real enough.

If you mean "whiff" in the sense of "a hint", "a trace", "a suspicion", etc, then that is figurative and in the following "of something", the "something can be anything.

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Yes. I have a cat who farts when excited. It is quite correct to say that she whiffs at those times.

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  • You seem to be using whiffs as a verb in your example. But the question is about using whiff as a noun—specifically, whether a speaker or writer may refer to the whiff of an actual thing rather than figuratively to the whiff of an abstract idea.
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Jun 26, 2022 at 0:13

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