ワキガ

ワ

キ

ガ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

body odor; underarm odor; bromhidrosis

usually written using kana alone

Refers specifically to strong, often abnormal-smelling underarm sweat. Commonly used in everyday conversation and medical contexts.

夏なつになるとワキガが気きになる。
I worry about body odor in the summer.
彼かれはワキガの治ち療りょうを受うけている。
He is receiving treatment for underarm odor.

See all 5 example sentences ›

Kanji

腋armpit, side
臭stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious looking
狐fox
胡barbarian, foreign

Related words

体たい臭しゅう
体臭 is general body odor, while ワキガ specifically refers to underarm odor, often with a stronger or abnormal connotation.
汗あせ臭くさい
汗臭い describes a sweaty smell in general, not necessarily the specific condition of ワキガ.

Written forms

ワキガUsage64%
kana-only spelling
Most common spelling in everyday use; the word is usually written in kana.
わきがUsage21%
Hiragana spelling, also common.
腋臭Usage15%
- わきが
  Kanji spelling; rarely used in practice. The reading えきしゅう is possible but very uncommon.
- わきくさ
- わきくそ
- えきしゅう
狐臭わきが
Alternate kanji spelling using 狐 (fox), implying a fox-like smell; rarely used.
胡臭わきが
out-dated kanji form
Contains outdated kanji; not used in modern writing.
わきくさ
わきくそ
えきしゅう

Etymology

Derived from 腋 (わき, armpit) + 臭 (が, smell). The reading が is a rendaku form of くさ. The kanji spellings 狐臭 and 胡臭 are ateji based on the association of the smell with foxes.