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贬低 (biǎn dī) — to belittle, to disparage; to demean, to play down

Definition

贬低 means 'to belittle or disparage' someone's value or ability — it's intentional and personal. Compare 淡化, which downplays an issue or memory, and 低估, which underestimates by mistake rather than by intent.

verb
to belittleto disparageto demeanto play down

Examples

  • 贬低。
    Tā zǒng shì zài gōng kāi chǎng hé biǎn dī jìng zhēng duì shǒu de chǎn pǐn.
    He always belittles his competitors' products in public.
  • 贬低。
    Nǐ bù néng yīn wèi yí cì shī bài jiù biǎn dī zì jǐ de néng lì.
    You can't belittle your own abilities just because of one failure.
  • 贬低。
    Zhēn zhèng de lǐng dǎo zhě cóng bù tōng guò biǎn dī xià shǔ lái shù lì wēi xìn.
    A true leader never establishes authority by belittling subordinates.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

贬biǎnlower value
低dīlow

贬 means to lower value or status, and 低 gives the result of being brought down; together they mean to make something seem low.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貶; 贬 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貶 pairs 貝 (shell) with 乏 giving the sound; the simplified 贬 is a later shorthand.

Open 贬 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman, person
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī低dī
Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

Open 低 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech

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