贬 (biǎn): to diminish, to demote, to reduce or devaluate
贬 (biǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to diminish.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 贝 (structural) and 乏 (structural). It ranks #2443 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 贬 to devalue 乏 currency 贝. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, expensive), 负 (fù, to bear), 责 (zé, responsibility).
Definitions
- to diminish
- to demote
- to reduce or devaluate
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo devalue 乏 currency 贝
Decomposition: ⿰贝乏 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 贬 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 贬低verb | biǎn dī | to belittle |
| 贬义noun | biǎn yì | derogatory sense |
| 贬值verb | biǎn zhí | to become devaluated |
| 贬损verb | biǎn sǔn | to mock |
| 褒贬verb | bāo biǎn | to appraise |
| 贬抑verb | biǎn yì | to belittle |
| 贬谪verb | biǎn zhé | to banish from the court |
| 女性贬抑 | nǚ xìng biǎn yì | misogyny |
| 男性贬抑 | nán xìng biǎn yì | misandry |
| 看贬 | kàn biǎn | to expect (a currency etc) to depreciate |
| 货币贬值 | huò bì biǎn zhí | currency devaluation |
| 贬多于褒 | biǎn duō yú bāo | to get more criticism than praise |
| 贬官verb | biǎn guān | to demote an official |
| 一字褒贬phrase | yī zì bāo biǎn | (lit.) to dispense praise or blame with a single word (idiom) |
| 贬称verb | biǎn chēng | derogatory term |
贬 appears in 20 compound words: 70 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 15 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 贬 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
贬字由8笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
biǎn zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "贬" consists of eight strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
...积“秒填息”行情 新台币汇价回稳终止连3贬
. . . jī miǎo tián xī háng qíng xīn tái bì huì jià huí wěn zhōng zhǐ lián 3 biǎn
...Amid the "instant dividend reinvestment" trend, the New Taiwan dollar exchange rate stabilized, ending a three-day losing streak
〈台币〉股汇齐扬!量缩终结连3贬收31.885元 静待Fed利率决策
tái bì gǔ huì qí yáng ! liàng suō zhōng jié lián 3 biǎn shōu 3 1 . 8 8 5 yuán jìng dài F e d lì lǜ jué cè
〈New Taiwan Dollar〉Stocks and Currency Rise Together! Trading Volume Shrinks as Three-Day Losing Streak Ends; Rate Closes at 31.885, Awaits Fed Interest Rate Decision
... 原业主7年前高位接火棒 蚀380万离场贬值22.4%
. . . yuán yè zhǔ 7 nián qián gāo wèi jiē huǒ bàng shí 3 8 0 wàn lí chǎng biǎn zhí 2 2 . 4
... The original owner took over the fire stick at a high level 7 years ago and lost 3.8 million yuan and left the market to depreciate by 22.4%
高市对升息保留 日圆重贬
gāo shì duì shēng xī bǎo liú rì yuán chóng biǎn
The high market retains interest rate hikes and the yen depreciates heavily
...揭:高市对“再升息”表达疑虑 拖累日圆重贬1%
. . . jiē : gāo shì duì zài shēng xī biǎo dá yí lǜ tuō lěi rì yuán chóng biǎn 1
... Revealed: The high market expressed doubts about "raising interest rates again", dragging down the yen to depreciate by 1%
随着通货膨胀的发展美元贬值了。
Suízhe tōnghuòpéngzhàng de fāzhǎn Měiyuán biǎnzhí le.
The value of the dollar declines as the rate of inflation rises.
影片得到的评价褒贬不一。
Yǐngpiàn dédào de píngjià bāobiǎn bùyī.
The film received mixed reviews.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 贬 (biǎn)?
Is 贬 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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