The kanji 臭 generally conveys the meaning of "smell," specifically a bad or unpleasant odor. It often refers to something that stinks or has a foul scent.

・On-yomi (音読み): シュウ (shū) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): くさ(い) (kusai)

⚫︎ 臭いにおい (kusai nioi) Translation: Bad smell; stinky odor ⚫︎ 口臭 (kōshū) Translation: Bad breath ⚫︎ 悪臭 (akushū) Translation: Stench; foul smell

The kanji 臭 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The character is composed of the radical 自 (ji), meaning "oneself" or "nose," and 犬 (inu), meaning "dog." The combination creates a character that represents a dog (or other animal) smelling something, thus associating the character with the sense of smell. Over time, 自and 犬were combined to create 臭.