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]

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
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]`

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

Inflection of くさい

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 quasi-adjective stem) an intensifier
面(めん)倒(どう)臭(くさ)い
mendō-kusai
a hassle

Forms an adjective.

^ 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