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.
手汚しにならないように気をつけてください。
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).
そんなことをしたら家の汚しになる。
Doing such a thing would bring disgrace to the 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.
今日の小鉢はまぐろの汚しです。
Today's side dish is chopped tuna dressed with miso.
His crime brought shame upon the family.
この作業は服の汚しが避けられない。
This work inevitably soils your clothes.
彼の行動は名の汚しだ。
His actions are a stain on his name.
ほうれん草をごま汚しにした。
I dressed the spinach in sesame sauce.
恥 is the general word for shame or embarrassment, whereas 汚し as a suffix specifically means bringing a stain on one's name or family honor.
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.
名誉 means honor or prestige, the opposite of 汚し's sense of shame or disgrace brought upon a name or family.
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.