Translation guide
How to express 'sniff out' in Japanese, covering literal smelling by animals and figurative detection of hidden things.
Describe an animal using its nose to find something by scent.
Most direct equivalent for animals sniffing out prey, drugs, etc. Combines 'sniff' (嗅ぐ) with 'find/attach' (つける).
Express finding something hidden or not obvious, like a secret, a lie, or a talented person.
嗅ぎつける retains a nuance of 'sniffing' and is often used when someone follows clues or intuition, like a journalist or detective. 見つけ出す is more neutral and simply means 'find out' or 'locate'.
He is quick to sniff out information.
警察犬が麻薬を嗅ぎつけた。
The police dog sniffed out the drugs.
Literally 'sniff and hit the mark'. Emphasizes successfully locating the source of a smell.
The dog sniffed out the truffle.
Means 'follow a scent'. Used when an animal tracks something by smell over a distance.
The hound sniffed out the prey by following its scent.
Same word as literal use, but figuratively means to get wind of something, often used for journalists or curious people uncovering secrets.
The reporter sniffed out the scandal.
General term for 'find out' or 'track down'. Not smell-related, but natural for discovering hidden things or people.
He's good at sniffing out hidden talent.
Literally 'sniff and take', implies sensing something intuitively, like danger or a lie.
She sniffed out the danger.
Means 'sense' or 'perceive'. Used when someone detects a situation or hidden motive without explicit evidence.
He sniffed out the lie.
Means 'expose' or 'uncover'. Stronger nuance of revealing something deliberately hidden, like a secret or wrongdoing.
They sniffed out the conspiracy.
彼は解決策を見つけ出した。
He found out the solution.
嗅ぐ (かぐ) means 'to sniff' but not 'to sniff out'. To express successful detection, you need a compound like 嗅ぎつける or 嗅ぎ当てる.