soiling; making dirty; polluting
Used as a suffix attached to nouns to indicate that something gets dirty or causes dirtiness. Also used as a standalone noun for the act or state of soiling.
Please be careful not to get your hands dirty.
Used as a suffix to indicate that something brings shame or dishonor. Often attached to nouns like 名 (name) or 家 (family).
chopped fish, shellfish or vegetables dressed with sauce
Culinary term for finely chopped seafood or vegetables mixed with miso or another sauce. Often seen in traditional Japanese cuisine.
His crime brought shame upon the family.
This work inevitably soils your clothes.
Doing such a thing would bring disgrace to the family.
His actions are a stain on his name.
Today's side dish is chopped tuna dressed with miso.
I dressed the spinach in sesame sauce.
和え物 is the general term for any dressed dish, while 汚し refers specifically to finely chopped ingredients mixed with a sauce like miso, common in home cooking.
Standard kanji spelling for the suffix and standalone noun uses.
Derived from the verb 汚す (よごす, 'to make dirty') with the nominalizing suffix し, which can indicate an action or its result. The shame sense is a metaphorical extension of 'staining' one's honor.