臭

Mandarin · pinyin chòu#

Meanings · chòu

  1. stench
  2. smelly
  3. to smell (bad)
  4. repulsive
  5. loathsome
  6. terrible
  7. bad
  8. severely
  9. ruthlessly
  10. dud (ammunition)
Mandarin · pinyin xiù#

Meanings · xiù

  1. sense of smell
  2. smell bad
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Characters in this entry

臭
chòu · smell, stink, emit foul odor
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · chou4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cau3

Cantonese word readings for 臭. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. bad smell
  2. bad name; bad reputation
  3. smelly; stinky
  4. ugly; repulsive
  5. fiercely
  6. bad; poor (luck, skill, etc)

character

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) odour
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) fragrance
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) original form of 嗅 (xiù, “to smell”)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

臭 · chou4 · xiu4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source lines 92,165, 92,166
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source records臭 臭 [chou4] /stench/smelly/to smell (bad)/repulsive/loathsome/terrible/bad/severely/ruthlessly/dud (ammunition)/臭 臭 [xiu4] /sense of smell/smell bad/