恥

chǐ

shame, humiliation; ashamed

Meaning

Internal state: To feel shame or embarrassment; to be ashamed.
External quality: Shameful, disgraceful, or dishonorable (used to describe an act, object, or status).
Social condition: Humiliation or the loss of face/standing within a social hierarchy.

Predicate vs. Modifier: When appearing as a predicate, it typically denotes the feeling of shame; when modifying a noun, it denotes the quality of being shameful.
The Negative (不恥): In classical contexts, this often functions as an expression of humility rather than a lack of morality, meaning "not being too proud to [do something]" or "not feeling it beneath oneself to..."

恥 vs. 辱 (rǔ): While often used together, 辱 leans toward the external blow—the act of being insulted, disgraced, or stripped of rank. 恥 is the internal resonance of that blow; the subjective feeling resulting from a social transgression or external insult.
恥 vs. 愧 (kuì): 愧 carries a stronger connotation of personal guilt or a conscientious "feeling small" before another regardless of public standing, whereas 恥 is more fundamentally tied to the social gaze and public reputation.

Components: Composed of 耳 (ear) and 心 (heart). Variations in the arrangement of these components are generally graphic or regional and do not signal a shift in meaning.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.