卑しい

• 読み: いやしい
• ローマ字: iyashii
• 漢字の分解: 卑 (iya/hi) — lowly, base, vulgar, humble
• 発音: /i.ja.ɕiː/

意味

Lowborn; humble; lowly. Also: greedy, vulgar, or base in character.

An i-adjective with two main uses. The first refers to low social status or humble origins (卑しい身分). The second, more common in modern usage, describes someone who is greedy or lacking refinement — especially about food (食い意地が卑しい). The word carries strong negative connotations and is considered quite blunt or rude when directed at someone.

例文

1. 人の食べ物を欲しがるなんて卑しいと言われた。
2. 卑しい身分から出世した武将の物語だ。
3. 金に卑しい人間にはなりたくない。

使い方ガイド

場面: character judgement, historical narrative, social commentary

トーン: critical

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese. The kanji 卑 means 'lowly, base, vulgar' and appears in classical terms like 卑下 (self-deprecation). Originally denoted low social rank, later extending to moral baseness.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal