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下卑 (げび) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

下げ卑び

Meanings

1

noun

vulgarity; coarseness; crudeness

Refers to low, crude, or vulgar behavior, speech, or taste. Often used in compound adjectives like 下卑た (vulgar, coarse).

彼かれの下げ卑びた冗じょう談だんにはうんざりだ。
I'm fed up with his vulgar jokes.
あの店みせの装そう飾しょくは下げ卑びている。
The decor of that shop is tasteless and crude.

Kanji

下below, down, descend
卑lowly, base, vile

Similar words

下げ品ひん
下品 is more common and broadly means 'vulgar' or 'indecent', while 下卑 emphasizes coarseness and crudeness, often with a nuance of low-class or unrefined behavior.
卑いやしい
卑しい can mean 'vulgar' or 'greedy', but also 'humble' or 'lowly' in a social sense; 下卑 focuses more on crude, tasteless vulgarity.

Etymology

The kanji 下 (low) and 卑 (base, vulgar) are ateji used phonetically for the reading げび. The word itself is of native Japanese origin, likely related to げ (low, base) and び (a suffix indicating quality or state), but the exact derivation is uncertain.