pungent smell; strong odor
Describes an intense, often unpleasant smell. Used for both literal and figurative strong odors.
There's a pungent smell coming from the fridge.
激臭のする靴下を洗濯に出した。
I put the socks with a strong odor in the laundry.
irritating smell; pungent odor
Standard kanji spelling using 激 (intense) + 臭 (smell).
Variant using 劇 (dramatic); less common and may be considered nonstandard.
Compound of 激 (intense) and 臭 (smell). The exact origin is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern of combining intensity kanji with sensory nouns.