JLPT N3 · い-adjective

臭い (kusai)

臭い (くさい, kusai) is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “stinking; smelly”. It appears in JLPT N3 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: くさい
Romaji: kusai
Word class: い-adjective
Level: JLPT N3 (unofficial)

Meaning

stinking; smelly · い-adjective
suspicious; fishy · い-adjective
hammy (acting); over-the-top; cheesy · い-adjective
clumsy; unskilled · い-adjective
(overly) gamey; strong-tasting · い-adjective

Example sentences

「汗でびしょ濡れだよ」「離れてっ。臭いわっ！」

"I'm soaked with sweat." "Step back. You stink!"

Tatoeba #236370

あいつが臭い。

He looks suspicious.

Tatoeba #234678

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 臭い

い-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present	臭い	くさい kusai
Negative	臭くない	くさくない kusakunai
Past	臭かった	くさかった kusakatta
Negative past	臭くなかった	くさくなかった kusakunakatta
Te-form	臭くて	くさくて kusakute
Adverb (~ku)	臭く	くさく kusaku
Conditional (~ba)	臭ければ	くさければ kusakereba

Kanji in 臭い

臭

stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious lookingシュウ・くさ.い・-くさ.い · 9 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 臭い.

面倒臭いめんどうくさいbothersome生臭いなまぐさいsmelling of fish

Source: JMdict entry 1333150 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.