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Kanji Detail for 卑 - "humble, base"

  • Meaning

    卑 means "humble, base." Also associated with low.

    1. Humble - Low in rank or status; modest and unpretentious.

    2. Base - Of low quality in conduct; vulgar or crude.

    3. Modest - Speaking humbly of oneself; self-deprecating.

    4. Low - Of inferior position or standing.

  • Words using

    • 卑怯 ひきょう Listen cowardly; craven; unfair
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 男尊女卑 だんそんじょひ Listen male domination of women; male chauvinism; subjection of women
    • 卑怯千万 ひきょうせんばん Listen very mean (sneaky); extremely unsportsmanlike
    • 女尊男卑 じょそんだんぴ Listen placing women above men
    • 官尊民卑 かんそんみんぴ Listen putting the officials and bureaucrats above the people; treating the governors as more important than the governed; statism
  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: humble, base
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Also carries these associations: low
    • Traditionally considered inauspicious in names — Japanese readers may find it an unlucky choice. Check the meanings above carefully before using it on skin.

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    lowly; base; vile; vulgar; despise

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    humble, low, inferior; despise

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    low; base; vulgar; inferior; humble

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    humble, low, inferior; to despise

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    Low. | Base; humble. | A self-deprecating term when addressing superiors. Such as the old terms 卑人, 卑職.
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • It is mean of you to tell a lie about it.

  • It's mean of you to talk that way.

  • What a mean fellow he is !

  • Don't be a dog.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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