臭
stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious looking, odor, savor, fragrance, be fragrant, stink, glow, be bright
Readings
On'yomi
- シュウ
Kun'yomi
- くさ.い
- -くさ.い
- にお.う
- にお.い
Meaning
臭 centers on a strong, often unpleasant smell, but can also refer to fragrance or savor in certain contexts. The idea of being suspicious looking extends from something that 'smells' wrong.
Most common words using 臭
20 of 142- 臭いくさいN4
stinking; smelly
- 臭しゅう
-smell; stinking of
- 悪臭あくしゅう
bad smell; foul smell; offensive odor; stench; stink
- 体臭たいしゅう
body odor; body odour; personal odor; personal odour; characteristic (of someone)
- 口臭こうしゅう
bad breath; halitosis
- 胡散臭いうさんくさい
suspicious-looking; shady; questionable; dubious; fishy
- 古臭いふるくさい
stale; old fashioned; hackneyed; trite; antiquated; obsolete; musty; outdated
- 腋臭わきが
body odor (odour); abnormal underarm odor
- 生臭いなまぐさいN2
smelling of fish; fishy; smelling of blood; bloody
- 無臭むしゅう
odorless; odourless; unscented
- 異臭いしゅう
offensive smell; bad smell; foul smell; stench
- 臭みくさみ
bad smell
- 泥臭いどろくさい
smelling of mud; smelling of earth
- 臭気しゅうき
bad smell; stink
- 脱臭だっしゅう
deodorization; deodorisation
- 青臭いあおくさい
inexperienced; immature; green; naive
- 防臭ぼうしゅう
odor-resistant; odour-resistant
- 臭素しゅうそ
bromine (Br)
- 物臭ものぐさ
laziness; lazy person
- 水臭いみずくさいN1
stand-offish; distant; not frank; reserved
Study
Etymology
臭 combines 自 (nose) and 犬 (dog), suggesting a dog's keen sense of smell. Historically, it represented odor or sniffing, and the modern form retains this component relationship.
Meaning mnemonic
A nose (自) and a dog (犬) together: imagine a dog sniffing out a strong smell. Whether stinky or fragrant, the dog's nose detects it.
Reading mnemonic
For シュウ, imagine a shoe that smells so bad even a dog wrinkles its nose: shoe -> シュウ, and the stink is unmistakable.