贱 (jiàn): cheap, humble
贱 (jiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “cheap, humble.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 贝 (structural) and 戋 (structural). It ranks #2480 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 贱 costing little 戋 money 贝; 戋 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, abbr. for Guizhou Province 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1]), 负 (fù, to bear), 责 (zé, responsibility).
Definitions
- cheap, humble
Etymology & Origin
ideographicCosting little 戋 money 贝; 戋 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰贝戋 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 贱人 | jiàn rén | slut |
| 贱货 | jiàn huò | bitch |
| 下贱 | xià jiàn | humble |
| 低贱 | dī jiàn | lowly |
| 卑贱 | bēi jiàn | lowly |
| 贱民 | jiàn mín | social stratum below the level of ordinary people |
| 贱卖 | jiàn mài | to sell cheaply |
| 贱骨头 | jiàn gǔ tou | miserable wretch |
| 贵贱 | guì jiàn | noble and lowly |
| 贫贱 | pín jiàn | poor and lowly |
| 微贱 | wēi jiàn | humble |
| 自轻自贱 | zì qīng zì jiàn | to belittle oneself |
| 贫贱不能移 | pín jiàn bù néng yí | not shaken by poverty |
| 贵远贱近 | guì yuǎn jiàn jìn | to revere the past and despise the present (idiom) |
| 贵古贱今 | guì gǔ jiàn jīn | to revere the past and despise the present (idiom) |
贱 appears in 27 compound words: 30 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 19 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 贱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
不要轻视任何人，每个人都有自己的价值。
Búyào qīngshì rènhé rén, měi gè rén dōu yǒu zìjǐ de jiàzhí.
Don't look down on anyone; everyone has their own value.
自爆脑袋先天问题 陈佩琪控检把她当贱人
zì bào nǎo dài xiān tiān wèn tí chén pèi 琪 kòng jiǎn bǎ tā dāng jiàn rén
...15岁女为买iPhone偷家长13万饰品贱卖 母看二手店回收价气炸
. . . suì nǚ wéi mǎi tōu jiā cháng wàn shì pǐn jiàn mài mǔ kàn èr shǒu diàn huí shōu jià qì zhà
... A 15-year-old girl stole 130,000 jewelry from her parents to buy an iPhone and sold it cheaply, and her mother saw the recycling price of second-hand stores
来人，给我掌这贱女人嘴巴！
Lái rén, gěi wǒ zhǎng zhè jiàn nǚrén zuǐba!
Guards! Slap that vile woman's face!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 贱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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