as in cruel
feeling or showing a desire to cause harm or pain
a mean-spirited person He wrote a mean-spirited book review.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mean-spirited
While most are supportive, a fair number are critical, even mean-spirited.
—
Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 16 June 2023
Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 16 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mean-spirited
Adjective
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Everybody else has no choice, really, other than to bring a cruel, narcissistic far-right leader to power.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2025
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The cruelest part is that the good ones are mixed with the bad ones.—
Matt Rivers,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This was a vicious weaponization of your government.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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Shauna may be the vicious Antler Queen now, but Lottie also played a role in Mari’s death.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The antisemitic charge is a slur in its own right, tainting a broad range of institutions with a single hateful brush.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
New York Daily News,
14 Apr. 2025
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Prater, a graduate student in her first season with the Bulldogs, appeared to disable her comment section on some of her Instagram posts after facing an influx of hateful messages following the devastating injury Watkins suffered in the first half of their second round game.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Switching out a pump in a pit filled with raw sewage is nasty work.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
12 Apr. 2025
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The bear is back and things may stay nasty for the rest of 2025.—
Brett Owens,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Your friend thought about, wrote and got caught writing something unkind about you.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
16 Apr. 2025
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Groom ‘Upset’ That Bride Excluded His Mom and Sister from Her Wedding Dress Shopping Appointment Not long after, the bride and her fiancé stopped by M's house, and M made an unkind comment about the bride having gained weight.—
Erin Clack,
People.com,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Pro athletes are generally expected to deal with difficult pressure, including contentious opponents and obnoxious fans.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
18 Apr. 2025
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Fortunately, because those obnoxious rings of hyperpigmentation have been irking our nerves for centuries, experts have had plenty of time to figure out effective treatment options.—
Essence Gant,
Allure,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Several diss tracks followed, with the musicians hurling increasingly spiteful insults at each other relating to accusations of domestic abuse, exploitation and pedophilia.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Mar. 2025
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The more spiteful Drake could smell a world of buff, misogynistic grifters taking hold and made sure to set up shop where the audience would be.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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According to an ancient Greek myth, all those who had fallen in love with the young man Narcissus were met with contemptuous rejection.—
Abigayle Ward,
Hartford Courant,
8 Mar. 2025
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The president was also profoundly contemptuous of women, kept his true opposition to female suffrage carefully hidden, and allowed the suffragists who silently held banners outside the White House to be repeatedly attacked by mobs, beaten, and jailed.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mean-spirited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mean-spirited. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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