下人

xiàrén

noun #31,875

Measure Word

一个下人 gè

Meanings

1 servant (old usage)
2 (dialectal) one's children or grandchildren
3 subordinate; underling

Characters

Examples

府里的下人都听老爷的吩咐。

Fǔ lǐ de xiàrén dōu tīng lǎoye de fēnfu.

All the servants in the household obey the master's orders.

他从小被当作下人对待，受了不少委屈。

Tā cóngxiǎo bèi dàngzuò xiàrén duìdài, shòu le bùshǎo wěiqu.

He was treated as a servant from childhood and suffered many humiliations.

Tips

usage

Pre-modern term for household servants - you'll hear it constantly in costume dramas (古装剧) and adaptations of works like 《红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber). In modern China the word survives as a derogatory "underling" (使唤下人 "order someone around like a servant"), but the neutral domestic-help word today is 保姆 or 佣人.

Stroke Order

下 xià

人 rén