賤

Core sense is the semantic opposite of 貴 (noble/expensive), covering a range of "low value" across social and economic spheres:

• Social Status: Includes objective or legal status (low rank, commoner, servant classes); qualitative attributes (vulgarity, coarseness, lack of dignity); and performative humility (used as a self-deprecating honorific in formal correspondence).
• Economic Value: Refers to price (inexpensive) or inherent worth (trivial, poor quality).

• Adjective: Primary usage describing something as lowly or cheap.
• Verb: To debase or lower the status/value of; to treat with contempt or look down upon.

Contrast with 卑 (bēi): While both relate to lowliness, 卑 typically refers to relative position or rank within a hierarchy ("the ladder"), whereas 賤 typically refers to inherent value, social worth, or the nature of one's origin ("the material").

// Tang-period reading: //dzhiɛ̀n (Fanqie: 才線).

• Simplified variant: U+8D31.