mean-spirited

adjective

Definition of mean-spiritednext
as in cruel
feeling or showing a desire to cause harm or pain a mean-spirited person He wrote a mean-spirited book review.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mean-spirited 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
  1. cruel
  2. vicious
  3. hateful
  4. unkind
  5. nasty
  6. obnoxious
  7. spiteful
  8. contemptuous
Adjective
  • In response to legislation to end the cruelty once and for all, the Daily News once again trotted out its old and tired defense of this cruel, deadly and outdated industry.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Policing cringe is the cruelest métier of the internet—the origin of harassment campaigns and platforming of contempt.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruel
Adjective
  • So too, the possibility of Rollerball-style carnage carnivals where robots compete in vicious cage matches until only one android is still moving.
    — Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Cash reserves totaling $ 7,450,869 are being used to eviscerate his opponent with a vicious barrage of ad hominem assaults, thus giving him a 61 to 1 spending edge.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of vicious
Adjective
  • Ossoff went a step further, accusing Collins himself of amplifying hateful content and saying that his former congressional aide had intervened on behalf of a Holocaust denier.
    — AJC.com, AJC.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Online trolls posting hateful comments on social media don't establish how the crowd at Gainbridge behaves.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of hateful
Adjective
  • October's atmospheric downside Even October, however, can occasionally be unkind to stargazers.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • But, to be fair, there were indeed some unkind comments online and none of those are apparent when other performers take unorthodox approaches to the national anthem, such as performing it with bagpipes.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of unkind
Adjective
  • The polls still show a close-range contest, but in the increasingly nasty ad war, the spending suggests a far more lopsided fight.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Officers then cuffed the youngster as he was loaded into an ambulance and hospitalized for a fractured femur and a nasty bruise on his head, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the teen’s dad, Mahmoud Saleh, in Brooklyn Federal Court.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of nasty
Adjective
  • The nudity is also more gratuitous and the counselors more obnoxious.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Carla is suffering through a press junket for a new spy movie titled The Milliner with her obnoxious co-star, Jeremy (Aaron Tsindos).
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of obnoxious
Adjective
  • The anger leads them to Rupert, Rebecca’s forever-spiteful ex.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Cox’s film is biased in Bill’s favor, portraying him as a lapdog whose love for this screeching, spiteful, beady-eyed woman is his great tragic flaw.
    — Katie Rife, IndieWire, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of spiteful
Adjective
  • Below the surface, there is a lot of contemptuous finger-pointing about where the anti-AI energy now coursing through the political-media landscape is coming from.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Relative to the contemptuous silence of the Mike Ashley regime, there is no comparison — but even when compared to previous post-takeover administrations, Newcastle are being more communicative.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of contemptuous

Browse Nearby Words

means
mean-spirited
mean-spiritedness
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Cite this Entry

“Mean-spirited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mean-spirited. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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