くさい

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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
Terminal (終止形) 臭い くさい
Attributive (連体形) 臭い くさい
Key constructions
Informal negative 臭くない くさくない
くさくない
Informal past 臭かった くさかった
くさかった
Informal negative past 臭くなかった くさくなかった
くさくなかった
Formal 臭いです くさいです
Conjunctive 臭くて くさくて
くさくて
Conditional 臭ければ くさければ
くさければ

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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “くさ・い 【臭】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  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, Tokyo: 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), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
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