くさい

Japanese

Alternative spelling
臭い

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]

Plain	臭い	くさい	`[kùsáꜜì]`
Conjunctive	臭くて	くさくてくさくて	`[kùsáꜜkùtè]` `[kúꜜsàkùtè]`
Continuative	臭く	くさくくさく	`[kùsáꜜkù]` `[kúꜜsàkù]`
Negative	臭くない	くさくないくさくない	`[kùsáꜜkù nàì]` `[kúꜜsàkù nàì]`
Past	臭かった	くさかったくさかった	`[kùsáꜜkàttà]` `[kúꜜsàkàttà]`
Negative past	臭くなかった	くさくなかったくさくなかった	`[kùsáꜜkù nàkàttà]` `[kúꜜsàkù nàkàttà]`
Conditional	臭ければ	くさければくさければ	`[kùsáꜜkèrèbà]` `[kúꜜsàkèrèbà]`
Terminal	臭い	くさい	`[kùsáꜜì]`
Formal	臭いです	くさいです	`[kùsáꜜì dèsù]`

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

くさい • (-kusai)

smells like; reeks of
鉄(てつ)臭(くさ)い ― tetsu-kusai ― metallic, like blood
(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
(with a na-adjective stem) an intensifier
面(めん)倒(どう)臭(くさ)い ― mendō-kusai ― a hassle

^ 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
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 “くさ・い【臭】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ 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