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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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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Decades later, in a cruel twist of fate, the Guthrie family is no longer pantomiming a kidnapping.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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Rojas was never treated by a physician while at El Helicoide, where human rights groups have denounced cases of cruel, inhuman treatment and torture.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Catherine’s brother Hindley, a vicious bully whose abuse is part of what drives Cathy and Heathcliff so closely together, is cut entirely, his role combined with Catherine’s father.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
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Everyone is fair game for her vicious tongue.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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This is not the first time that Peacock has taken to social media to ask viewers to refrain from sending hateful messages.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Jan. 2026
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Since 2004, Orange County also has been predominantly nonwhite, but some conservative families, such as Woodward’s, bond over a hateful ideology.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The mother of three was first spotted with the hunky Larocca, in October 2024, about six months after the nasty breakup with Hall.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
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Talarico remarked that the nasty interloper would provide good color for my story, and then recalled the time that former Governor Rick Perry had encountered a coyote while running outside Austin—and shot it dead.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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To them, he will be remembered as a cold, heartless businessman and a shamefully unkind man of the cloth who focused way too much on socializing, traveling and furthering his own agenda.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Currently, Republicans hold narrow margins in both chambers -- but midterm cycles are historically unkind to the sitting president's party.—
Emily Chang,
ABC News,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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When an obnoxious influencer (Zach Galifianakis, delightfully punchable) dies in a freak accident at her gallery, Polina decides to pass off his corpse as an exhibition centerpiece.—
Kathleen Newman-Bremang,
Refinery29,
28 Jan. 2026
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This latest fight starts with a comment Natalie makes at work that is both obnoxious and innocuous.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Melvin Williams, a professor of communication and media studies at Pace University, says the spiteful nature of Swift and Lively's texts doesn't reflect well on either woman − and both have probably lost some fans as a result.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
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If not for Camilla, who’d gone out of her way to take Regina in, even letting her share the bedroom with her and Lalla, the others wouldn’t have welcomed her—not out of spite, no, because none of them were spiteful after all, but out of indifference, selfishness, plain and simple.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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We are confronted by an administration that is contemptuous of the Bill of Rights and engaged in unlawful acts of violence against us.—
Chris Mattei,
Hartford Courant,
6 Feb. 2026
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Thompson, meanwhile, savors every contemptuous glare and hateful retort Anna regularly supplies.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mean-spirited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mean-spirited. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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