水みず臭くさい

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ず

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さ

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Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

水臭い · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	水みず臭くさい	水みず臭くさくない
Polite	水みず臭くさいです	水みず臭くさくないですalso 水みず臭くさくありません
Past polite	水みず臭くさかったです	水みず臭くさくなかったですalso 水みず臭くさくありませんでした
Past	水みず臭くさかった	水みず臭くさくなかった
Te-form	水みず臭くさくて	水みず臭くさくなくて
Adverbial	水みず臭くさく
Conditional	水みず臭くさければ	水みず臭くさくなければ
Tara conditional	水みず臭くさかったら	水みず臭くさくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

stand-offish; distant; reserved

Describes someone who is overly formal or not open with close friends or family, as if treating them like strangers. Often used in negative or admonishing contexts.

友とも達だちなのに水みず臭くさいよ。
We're friends, so don't be so distant.
家か族ぞくにまで水みず臭くさい態たい度どを取とるのはやめなさい。
Stop being so reserved even with your own family.

i-adjective

watery; weak (drink)

Used for drinks like alcohol or coffee that taste too diluted or lack strength.

このコーヒーは水みず臭くさくて美味おいしくない。
This coffee is watery and doesn't taste good.

Usage patterns

水みず臭くさいことを言いうto say something that sounds distant/unfriendly (to a close friend)
そんな水みず臭くさいことを言いうなよ、困こまったら何なんでも相そう談だんしてくれよ。
Don't be so distant with me — talk to me if you're ever in trouble.
水みず臭くさい〈物もの〉a watered-down drink (lacking strength or flavor)
このコーヒーは水みず臭くさくて、ちっとも美味おいしくない。
This coffee is so watery, it's not tasty at all.
〈人ひと〉に水みず臭くさいto be reserved/formal toward someone (despite being close to them)
親しん友ゆうに水みず臭くさい態たい度どをとるのはやめてほしい。
I wish he'd stop acting so distant with his best friend.

Kanji

水water
臭stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious looking

Related words

よそよそしい sense 1
よそよそしい describes cold, unfriendly distance in general, while 水臭い specifically criticizes someone close for acting like a stranger by hiding things or being overly formal.

Opposites

親したしいN3sense 1
親しい means close and open with someone, the opposite of the emotional distance implied by 水臭い.
濃こいN4sense 2
濃い describes a drink as strong or thick, the opposite of a 水臭い drink that tastes watered-down.

Don't confuse with

水みずっぽい sense 2
水っぽい simply means watery or diluted for any liquid or food, whereas 水臭い is mainly used about being emotionally distant, with the watery-drink sense being secondary.

Built from

水みず+臭くさい

Written forms

水みず臭くさいUsage53%
Standard kanji spelling; the kanji 水 (water) and 臭い (smelly) combine idiomatically.
水みずくさいUsage47%
Common kana-mixed spelling, especially in casual writing.

Etymology

From 水 (water) + 臭い (smelly, -ish), literally 'water-smelling'. The figurative sense of being distant likely comes from the idea of something being diluted or lacking warmth, like watered-down soup.