Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the important causative microbes for nosocomial infe- ction and has been isolated from the dental environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimi- crobial activity of linalool and α‐terpineol against MRSA isolates from a Korean population. In the experiments, we determined the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of these two compounds against 18 strains of MRSA. The data re- vealed that the MIC90/MBC90 values of linalool and α‐ terpineol against MRSA were >12.8 mg/ml and 6.4 mg/ml, respectively. These results indicate that α-terpineol has more potent antimicrobial activity against MRSA than lina- lool and may have utility as an anti‐MRSA cleansing agent for dental instruments and dental unit chairs.