Meanings
plural crab mentalities
- idiomaticA phenomenon in which a person or a group of people attempt to hinder the progress or success of others, even if such success does not directly affect their own well-being.
Synonyms: crab bucket syndrome
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA phenomenon in which a person or a group of people attempt to hinder the progress or success of others, even if such success does not directly affect their own well-being.
Origin
From the metaphor in which a pot of crabs, one crab attempts to escape over the side, but is relentlessly pulled down by the others in the pot.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 魚蛋論 /鱼蛋论
- 魚蛋論 /鱼蛋论if I can't have it neither can you
Chinese Mandarin 螃蟹心態 /螃蟹心态, 螃蟹精神
- 螃蟹心態 /螃蟹心态 (pángxiè xīntài)if I can't have it neither can you
- 螃蟹精神 (pángxiè jīngshén)if I can't have it neither can you
- 螃蟹心理 (pángxiè xīnlǐ)if I can't have it neither can you
Dutch krabbenmentaliteit
- krabbenmentaliteitif I can't have it neither can you
Finnish keskinäinen kateus, raputeoria
- keskinäinen kateusif I can't have it neither can you
- raputeoriaif I can't have it neither can you
Hungarian dögöljön meg a szomszéd tehene is
- dögöljön meg a szomszéd tehene isif I can't have it neither can you
Indonesian mentalitas kepiting
- mentalitas kepitingif I can't have it neither can you
Malay mentaliti ketam
- mentaliti ketamif I can't have it neither can you
Polish mentalność psa ogrodnika
- mentalność psa ogrodnikaif I can't have it neither can you
Spanish cangrejismo, mentalidad de cangrejo
- cangrejismoif I can't have it neither can you
- mentalidad de cangrejoif I can't have it neither can you
Tagalog isip-alimango, isip talangka
- isip-alimangoif I can't have it neither can you
- isip talangkaif I can't have it neither can you
- kaisipang talangkaif I can't have it neither can you
Cite this entry
crab mentality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20mentality
“crab mentality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20mentality. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crab mentality,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crab%20mentality.
Source: crab mentality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.