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小人 (xiǎo rén) — a mean, petty, or unscrupulous person; a villain; (historical) a person of low social status; (archaic) I, me (humble self-reference)

Definition

小人 most commonly means a petty, scheming person — stronger and more about moral character than 小气 (stingy/petty about money) or 卑鄙 (a single despicable act). It also pairs historically with 君子 as a low-status opposite.

noun
a meanpettyor unscrupulous persona villain(historical) a person of low social status(archaic) Ime (humble self-reference)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，小人。
    Tā zǒng shì bèi hòu gǎo xiǎo dòng zuò, zhēn shì xiǎo rén.
    He's always scheming behind people's backs — he's a real petty person.
  • ，小人。
    Zài gǔ dài, xiǎo rén yǔ jūn zǐ shì duì lì de liǎng gè jiē céng.
    In ancient times, 'petty people' and 'gentlemen' were two opposing social classes.
  • 小人，。
    xiǎo rén Dǒu dǎn jìn yán, wàng jiāng jūn sān sī.
    I humbly presume to speak — I hope the general will think twice.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

小xiǎopetty
人rénperson

小人 is a petty person: 小 means small or low, and 人 means person.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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