Meanings
adjectivemean-spirited (comparative more mean-spirited, superlative most mean-spirited)
comparative more mean-spirited · superlative most mean-spirited · alternative mean spirited · alternative meanspirited
- Having a base, nasty, petty, or malevolent disposition; tawdry.
My old acquaintances would sneer at me as a mean-spirited cur, whose best exploit was to get in jail.
1877, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 15, in A Knight Of The Nineteenth CenturySynonyms: tawdry
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving a base, nasty, petty, or malevolent disposition; tawdry.
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APA
mean-spirited. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mean-spirited
MLA
“mean-spirited.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mean-spirited. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mean-spirited,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mean-spirited.
Source: mean-spirited on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.