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
Examples of mean-spirited in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
While most are supportive, a fair number are critical, even mean-spirited.
—
Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 16 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mean-spirited
Adjective
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Yet Waters began the season out of Kerr’s 12-man rotation, the victim of a cruel numbers game that a deep roster creates.Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 30 Oct. 2024
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Rooted in a myth suggesting that ravens were negligent or cruel because their babies typically left their nests at a young age, rabenmütter is a term used to guilt German mothers who emphasize their careers.Rachel M. Cohen, Vox, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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This vicious cycle squanders taxpayer dollars and enables politicians to reap gains without actually benefiting constituents.Ge Bai, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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Lily Hay Newman a minute ago Outrage over the death of Peanut the squirrel is resulting in vicious hate speech, doxing, and threats of violence, including death threats, directed toward the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and its employees.WIRED, WIRED, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The worthwhile parts of Twitter (real-time news, sports, culture, silly memes, spontaneous encounters with celebrity accounts) have been drowned out by hateful garbage.Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
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The hateful rhetoric has been deployed all the way down the ballot, in Senate races, statehouse contests, and state constitutional amendment campaigns.Madison Pauly and Sarah Szilagy, Them, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The soaring harmonies on the chorus, the nasty edge to the bass line, the way the horns add sizzle to an already piping-hot track; these are all the indelible hallmarks of Jones’ work.Elias Leight, Billboard, 4 Nov. 2024
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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave took a nasty hit in their Week 9 game against the Carolina Panthers and was carted off the field.David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Playing the 81-year-old president as aghast, confused, and inarticulate could easily amount to an unkind impersonation, but in Carvey’s masterful hands, there is zero heightening — only dead-on accuracy.Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024
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Interacting with family that hurt him in the past is likely triggering, but some of his behavior goes beyond self-protective and has become unkind.R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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His loutish gimmick of the week is an obnoxious get-ready-with-me tutorial that the rest of his Chamber mates, unfortunately, can’t scroll past.Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
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But not the party atmosphere of today, with some people drinking too much and some obnoxious people ruining it for the majority.Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Share [Findings] Unaffiliated voters are growing more spiteful toward both Democrats and Republicans.Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
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But legitimate criticism has often been lost in spiteful lunacy.Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 10 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Critics have affixed to his output any number of adjectives meant to communicate its basic darkness: acerbic, malicious, cruel, contemptuous.Brandon Sanchez, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
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The rocket lifted away slowly, as though in contemptuous defiance of physics.David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near mean-spirited
Cite this Entry
“Mean-spirited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mean-spirited. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
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