Translation guide
Describes a smell that remains in a place or on something after the source is gone. Japanese has several nuanced expressions depending on whether the smell is pleasant or unpleasant, and whether it is a remnant or a persistent scent.
To express that a bad smell remains in a room, on clothes, or in the air.
Literally 'remaining smell'. Commonly used for lingering odors, especially unpleasant ones like cigarette smoke or cooking smells.
部屋にタバコの残り香がする。
There's a lingering smell of cigarettes in the room.
A phrase meaning 'the smell remains'. More direct and common in speech.
カレーの臭いが部屋に残っている。
The smell of curry is lingering in the room.
A more formal or technical term for residual odor, often used in product descriptions or complaints.
この消臭剤は残臭を完全に除去します。
This deodorizer completely eliminates lingering odors.
To describe a pleasant fragrance that remains after someone or something has left.
Also used for pleasant lingering scents, though context usually makes it clear. Often used poetically.
彼女が去った後も、部屋には彼女の残り香が漂っていた。
Even after she left, her lingering scent hung in the room.
Literally 'lingering fragrance', often used in literary contexts for a pleasant, elegant scent that remains.
茶室には抹茶の余香が満ちていた。
The tea room was filled with the lingering fragrance of matcha.
To express that an odor has permeated fabric and won't go away easily.
Means 'the smell soaks in and sticks'. Used for stubborn odors like tobacco or cooking smells on clothes.
焼肉の臭いがコートに染みついてしまった。
The smell of grilled meat has clung to my coat.
Literally 'the smell won't come off'. A common, natural way to complain about a lingering odor on fabric.
洗濯してもタバコの臭いが取れない。
Even after washing, the cigarette smell won't come out.
残り香 (のこりが) is a general term for any lingering smell, good or bad, while 余香 (よこう) is specifically a pleasant, often elegant fragrance that remains. 余香 is more literary and less common in daily conversation.
The English phrase 'lingering odor' can sound neutral or slightly negative. In Japanese, directly translating 'lingering' as 長引く (ながびく) for smells is unnatural. Use the expressions above instead.