臭い

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: In this entry the spelling 臭い, built on smell 臭 with final い, takes the noun reading におい.
• Basic usage: In this entry 臭い is the noun におい, meaning smell or odor.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• におい versus くさい
  • The same spelling can be read くさい as an i-adjective, so the reading and part of speech must not be conflated.