くさい

Japanese
Alternative spelling
臭い

Etymology

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 logographically as 臰, and in the Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki of 794 as 久佐之.[1][2] In turn, from Proto-Japonic *kusa. Cognate with 糞(くそ) (kuso, “feces, arse, shit”) and 腐(くさ)る (kusaru, “to rot”).[3]

Pronunciation
  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "臭い"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 臭く く​さく
くさ​く		 [kúꜜsàkù]
[kùsáꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 臭い くさ​い [kùsáꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 臭い くさ​い [kùsáꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 臭くない く​さくない
くさ​くない		 [kúꜜsàkùnàì]
[kùsáꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 臭かった く​さかった
くさ​かった		 [kúꜜsàkàttà]
[kùsáꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 臭くなかった く​さくなかった
くさ​くなかった		 [kúꜜsàkùnàkàttà]
[kùsáꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 臭いです くさ​いです [kùsáꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 臭くて く​さくて
くさ​くて		 [kúꜜsàkùtè]
[kùsáꜜkùtè]
Conditional 臭ければ く​さければ
くさ​ければ		 [kúꜜsàkèrèbà]
[kùsáꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

くさい • (kusai) -i (adverbial くさく (kusaku))

  1. stinking, smelly, pungent; giving off a bad smell
  2. suspicious, fishy; arousing suspicion

Synonyms

See also

Suffix

くさい • (-kusai) 

  1. smells like; reeks of
    鉄(てつ)臭(くさ)い
    tetsu-kusai
    metallic, like blood
  2. (negatively) very much like; conceptually similar to
    ジジ臭(くさ)い
    jiji-kusai
    like an old man
    昭(しょう)和(わ)臭(くさ)い
    Shōwa-kusai
    like the Shōwa era
  3. (with a quasi-adjective stem) an intensifier
    面(めん)倒(どう)臭(くさ)い
    mendō-kusai
    a hassle

Usage notes

Forms an adjective.

References
  1. Omodaka, Hisataka (1967) 時代別国語大辞典 上代編 [The dictionary of historical Japanese: Old Japanese] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN, page 255
  2. “くさ・い 【臭】”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) Paid subscription required‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  3. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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