mean
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: mēn
ipa: /miːn/
note: Local Dublin
ipa: /miːn/
note: Local Dublin
ipa: /mijən/
homophone: meen
homophone: mene
homophone: mien
homophone: mesne
rhymes: -iːn
Forms: form: meaner
form: meanest
Etymology: From Middle English mene, imene, from Old English mǣne, ġemǣne (“common, public, general, universal”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamainī, from Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“common”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to change, exchange, share”). Doublet of common.
Cognate with West Frisian mien (“general, universal”), Dutch gemeen (“common, mean”), German gemein (“common, mean, nasty”), Danish gemen, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains, “common, unclean”), Latin commūnis (“shared, common, general”) (Old Latin comoinem).
Senses: glosses: Common; general.
examples: text: a man of mean parentage
text: a mean abode
text: Thinke you I weigh this treaſure more than you?
Not all the Gold in Indias welthy armes,
Shall buy the meaneſt ſouldier in my traine.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
text: After every qualification of property had been laid aside, the armies of the Roman emperors were still commanded, for the most part, by officers of liberal birth and education; but the common soldiers, like the mercenary troops of modern Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and very frequently from the most profligate, of mankind.
ref: 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter 1, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
text: Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
ref: 1865, “What Child Is This?”, William Chatterton Dix (lyrics):
glosses: Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble.
examples: text: a mean appearance
text: a mean dress
synonyms: word: cheap
word: grotty
word: ass
word: bad
word: base
word: below par
word: broken
word: bum
word: cheap
word: chintzy
word: crappo
word: crappy
word: craptastic
word: crapperific
word: craptabulous
word: craptacular
word: crummy
word: flimsy
word: inferior
word: lousy
word: low
word: low-grade
word: pitiful
word: poor
word: rinky-dink
word: rubbish
word: sad
word: schlocky
word: shoddy
word: slight
word: slim
word: sorry
word: subpar
word: shitty
word: substandard
word: tin-pot
word: unacceptable
word: unfit
word: unsatisfactory
word: unsound
word: unsuitable
word: woeful
word: wretched
glosses: Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby.
examples: text: a mean motive
text: It was mean of you to steal that little girl's piggy bank.
text: Can you imagine I ſo mean could prove, / To ſave my Life by changing of my Love?
ref: 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv, page 50:
text: Prince John: Your foe has bloodied you, sir knight. Will you concede defeat? You fight too well to die so mean a death. Will you not throw in your lot with me instead?
Ivanhoe: That would be an even meaner death, Your Grace.
ref: 1952, Ivanhoe:
text: The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
synonyms: base
ignoble
selfish
unkind
vile
antonyms: lofty
noble
honorable
glosses: Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base.
examples: text: The Roman legions and great Caesar found / Our fathers no mean foes.
ref: 1708, [John Philips], “(please specify the page)”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Of little value or worth; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.
examples: text: He's so mean. I've never seen him spend so much as five pounds on presents for his children.
synonyms: word: as tight as Dick's hatband
word: cheap
word: cheeseparing
word: chintzy
word: close
word: close as wax
word: close-fisted
word: illiberal
word: mean
word: miserable
word: miserly
word: narrow-fisted
word: niggardly
word: nipcheese
word: parsimonious
word: peddling
word: penny-wise
word: penny-pinching
word: penurious
word: scrooge-like
word: scrubby
word: shabby
word: still got one's communion money
word: stingy
word: swear
word: tight
word: tight-fisted
word: tight as a tick
word: tighter than Dick's hatband
word: ungenerous
word: ungiving
glosses: Ungenerous; stingy; tight-fisted.
glosses: Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating.
examples: text: Watch out for her: she's mean. I said good morning to her, and she punched me in the nose.
synonyms: cruel
malicious
nasty
wicked
glosses: Intending to cause harm, successfully or otherwise; bearing ill will towards another.
examples: text: It must have been a mean typhoon that levelled this town.
text: […]in the context of ships available at the time, they were aircraft carrier - fleet carriers. Now, granted, they may not have been the biggest and largest and meanest fleet carriers around, but they certainly were fleet carriers.
ref: 2020 February 23, Drachinifel, 8:48 from the start, in The Drydock - Episode 082, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2022:
synonyms: harsh
damaging
fierce
glosses: Powerful; fierce; strong.
examples: text: We were sitting in Poetta’s candlelit kitchen waiting for some of her gut-burning chili to get done. Everybody that knows Poetta knows that she makes a mean chili that if you eat it by lunchtime, it can clean out your entire system by the end of the day.
ref: 2003 July 24, Debra Phillips, The High Price of a Good Man: A Novel, New York City: St. Martin's, page 29:
text: She wasn’t the most accomplished cook in the world but she cold make a mean stew, she knew how to roast a chicken, and she could whip up eggs at least three different ways.
ref: 2021 July 24, Margaret Loudon, A Fatal Footnote, New York City: Berkley, →ISBN, page 109:
glosses: Hearty; spicy.
examples: text: Your mother can roll a mean cigarette.
text: He hits a mean backhand.
text: A Robot Makes a Mean Caesar Salad, but Will It Cost Jobs? [title]
ref: 2017 October 6, Claire Martin, “A Robot Makes a Mean Caesar Salad, but Will It Cost Jobs?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: deft
skillful
top-notch
glosses: Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with.
examples: text: This problem is mean!
glosses: Difficult, tricky.
Synonyms: word: inconsiderate
word: insensitive
word: halfhearted
word: mean
word: mean-spirited
word: merciless
word: petty
word: pitiless
word: poor-spirited
word: ruthless
word: thoughtless
word: tight
word: surly
word: uncaring
word: unfriendly
word: ungrateful
word: unkind
word: unkindly
word: unthinking
Hyponyms: word: cruel
word: despicable
word: malevolent
word: malicious
word: unjust
Derived terms: bemean
demean
lean and mean
mean as a snake
meandom
meanfem
mean girl
meanie
meanish
mean machine
mean-mouth
mean-mug
meanness
mean people suck
mean-spirited
meanspo
mean streak
mean streets
mean white
mean world syndrome
meany
no mean feat
semimean
Related terms: word: grim
word: harsh
word: humorless
word: stern