Chinese character 碜

It means gritty or irritating, then ugly, embarrassing, or unpleasant.

In its concrete sense, 碜 describes grit in food or a grain-like irritation. The Chinese medical text 《太平圣惠方》 uses 碜痛 for pain or irritation in 992.

Chinese drama from the Yuan dynasty uses 碜可可 for a miserable or frightening state. In common compounds, 牙碜 can mean sandy food or coarse speech; 寒碜 shifts toward unattractive looks, an undignified situation, or exposing someone's shortcomings.

What does it mean when someone sends 碜 alone?

Alone, it is ambiguous; the surrounding phrase tells you which sense fits.

A message containing only 碜 does not show whether the target is food, speech, someone's appearance, or a situation. If the conversation gives no clue, ask what the sender means.

寒伧 is another spelling of 寒碜. A 2019 account of local speech in Tangshan, China, describes 砢碜 as a northern colloquial form related to 寒碜.

How do I type 碜?

Use a Chinese pinyin keyboard and type chen.

Pinyin is the letter-based spelling used to enter Mandarin on many keyboards. A full word such as 牙碜 or 寒碜 gives the input method more context. In dictionaries the isolated reading is chěn; in these compounds, the syllable usually takes the neutral tone.