How to Use mean in a Sentence

mean

1 of 3 verb

• What was meant by the poet?
• Can you tell me what my dream means?
• She says she didn't mean anything by what she did.
• I don't trust him. He means no good.
• Don't distort what she meant by taking her words out of context.
• The word meant one thing in Shakespeare's day, but it means something else now.
• She's not getting any thinner, if you know what I mean.
• He's very ambitious, and I mean that as a compliment.
• It's a very easy question. Anyone, and I mean anyone, should be able to answer it.
• The race against the clock meant the city ran 24 hours a day.
  — Denise Kiernan, Rolling Stone, 17 July 2023
• For Denton, the onslaught of new words just means more ways to score points.
  — Joe Heim, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024
• That means supplies are low, which has sent prices up again.
  — Marley Jay, NBC News, 7 Oct. 2023
• What does the potential change mean for the bottom line of ratepayers?
  — Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024
• What climate change means for the future of gas pumps is unclear.
  — Katherine Ott, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 June 2023
• Does the song’s initial success mean more to (or about) either artist right now?
  — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 26 Sep. 2023
• The win over the Dolphins means the Chiefs will move on to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend.
  — Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 17 Jan. 2024
• Those who call Rolling Fork home remain unsure of what life is meant to look like now.
  — Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023
• So, does the growth in wait times since their pandemic lows mean air travel has bounced back?
  — Alison Saldanha, Anchorage Daily News, 29 July 2023
• Friday’s win for Mills meant a lot more than just winning the league title.
  — Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2024
• Split ends are a normal and common fact of life, but that doesn't mean pros can't teach you how to prevent and treat them.
  — Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 22 June 2023
• That means fish have less bulk to get their mouths around, which equals more positive hook ups after the take.
  — Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 22 June 2023
• Does that mean Wyoming will win this week, if not at least be in the game midway through the fourth quarter Saturday?
  — Corey Smith, Dallas News, 15 Sep. 2023
• The far greater press freedoms in Ukraine and in the West mean that Kyiv and its supporters sometimes struggle to speak with one voice.
  — Mary Ilyushina, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2023
• This season with the Chicago Bulls, that meant improving his 3-point shot.
  — Chicago Tribune, 17 Jan. 2024
• After five to seven days, all the pox will be dry scabs, which means the child is no longer contagious.
  — Parents Editors, Parents, 3 Sep. 2023
• As a leader, the pressure of my job sometimes means the right thing is not always the easiest thing to do.
  — Jason Hennessey, Rolling Stone, 7 Dec. 2023
• One way to think about this image is to ask whether it’s meant to be a caricature of the original.
  — Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
• This means the stool is customizable to fit your kitchen and style.
  — Addie Morton, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Jan. 2024
• That means there’s still time to gift it to a loved one or use it to clean your home before hosting a holiday party.
  — Isabel Garcia, Peoplemag, 19 Dec. 2023
• The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russians are set to be stripped of the gold medal in figure skating’s team event.
  — Chicago Tribune, 29 Jan. 2024

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mean

2 of 3 adjective

• The book quotes some of the mean things critics wrote about Rush.
  — Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023
• Then that child goes to school the next day and is mean to their teacher.
  — Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2023
• The sauce clings to the pasta and packs a mean punch of spicy, funky, sweet, salty flavor.
  — Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 16 Dec. 2023
• Nicholas Mohammed plays the meanest guy on the nicest show on TV.
  — Ellen Gamerman, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2023
• She was treated like a queen, was a mean girl to the other hens.
  — Martha McPhee, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2023
• The hardest part for me is when one kid is being mean to the others.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024
• Billie Eilish can sing, act, and play a mean game of Uno!
  — Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 2 Mar. 2024
• Stop being mean girls, and that goes for gay people, too.
  — Stephen Daw, Billboard, 7 June 2023
• What Tom lacks is Blifil’s birthright, and his mean spirit.
  — John Anderson, wsj.com, 27 Apr. 2023
• Down at the beach, a beautiful turquoise cove is a great place for a dip in the sea, and the Kanna Beach Bar makes a mean michelada.
  — Chelsee Lowe, Travel + Leisure, 23 Apr. 2023
• Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul.
  — Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 22 Sep. 2023
• The children’s mean screen time was 4.4 hours per day before the pandemic.
  — Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Feb. 2023
• Goldie's Saloon serves up a mean meal on an open broiler and fryer.
  — Marina Johnson, Detroit Free Press, 5 July 2023
• She was horrified at the mean things written in the Burn Book and loved how all the cliques blended together in the end.
  — Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 11 Jan. 2024
• That’s a fair bit below FactSet’s mean target of near $190 apiece.
  — WSJ, 2 Jan. 2024
• Though Willy doesn’t seem to possess a mean bone in his body (yet), there is a streak of darkness that winds through this river of fun.
  — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
• Laura isn’t a mean girl with prom-queen dreams; that’s the outdated model.
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Mar. 2024
• The sleepless nights ahead, the tantrums and book reports and standardized tests and the million ways that kids in middle school are mean.
  — Allegra Goodman, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023
• Merlin was rescued from the mean streets of Los Angeles.
  — John Kelly, Washington Post, 29 July 2023
• Cowell's criticism was mean, but the words didn't seem to bother Hung.
  — Gillian Telling, Peoplemag, 14 Jan. 2024
• The robot outperforms the surgeon by 31.7 % in mean transfer time.
  — IEEE Spectrum, 7 Feb. 2023
• The mean forecast for the current solar cycle (Cycle 25) is given by the red line.
  — Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 31 Mar. 2023
• However, this place — now 65 years old — makes a mean vanilla cone.
  — Jennifer Day, chicagotribune.com, 15 Sep. 2020
• While some pot roasts are perfect for a Sunday supper, this recipe makes a mean sandwich.
  — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2023
• However, the mean age of participants in that group was 52.
  — Madison Muller, Fortune Well, 27 Sep. 2023
• Now imagine that rich man being mean to you AND having plenty of means to ruin your life.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 19 June 2023
• But this is one more part of a fact pattern of Ron DeSantis being mean and hateful.
  — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 30 July 2023
• The mean kids in Gossip Girl have nothing on these little kids Taylor Momsen grew up with.
  — Grinch Girl, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2023
• And she’s been practicing a mean jump-spinning back kick for anybody who dares to get in her way — even if that’s Lena herself.
  — Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2023
• The film revolves around Reynolds, a mean and grumpy businessman who gets Scrooged by Will Ferrell but is still too jaded to care.
  — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 2 Nov. 2022

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mean

3 of 3 noun

• Take all these temperatures and calculate their mean.
• What does the counteroffensive mean for the future of the war?
  — Samuel Granados, Washington Post, 8 June 2023
• This means, days will only get longer and brighter from here.
  — Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 21 Dec. 2023
• What does all of this mean for the pause on student loan payments?
  — Alia Wong, USA TODAY, 24 May 2023
• And lastly, define what getting back on track means for you in the short term and the longer term.
  — Jasmine Browley, Essence, 24 Jan. 2024
• For these men and their means, failure is a sometimes thing.
  — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2023
• East Chicago is not a big city, by any means, and very much has the feel of a small town or suburb.
  — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Feb. 2024
• Anyway, the best joke in the whole affair was a little mean and a little sad.
  — Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2023
• What does the state of the housing market mean for Home Depot’s business?
  — Byphil Wahba, Fortune, 9 June 2023
• Most people think a reporter coming in means there will be something on the TV the next evening.
  — Matthew Jacobs, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2023
• With this being the 50th anniversary this year, what does hip-hop mean to Trevor Noah?
  — Okla Jones, Essence, 19 Dec. 2023
• At 16 pounds, this Shark is not a handheld vacuum by any means.
  — Barbara Bellesi Zito, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 May 2023
• Every country needs to have the means to defend itself.
  — Charlie Campbell, TIME, 12 Nov. 2023
• This combined with the beach culture down under means that Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.
  — Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 8 Apr. 2024
• Kind of like a Mexican or other Latin market, by all means have at it, but...
  — Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Oct. 2023
• Those with the means to buy the ice cream will also receive a handmade metal spoon meant to be used for their enjoyment of the dessert.
  — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 23 May 2023
• To decolonize means to return and respect the earth and see yourself as part of it.
  — Amanda Alcantara, refinery29.com, 7 June 2023
• Those goals must be matched by the necessary means at test ranges across America.
  — Sassie Duggleby, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024
• The gaggle of neighborhood mean girls who make snide comments about Georgie is a highlight.
  — Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2023
• Dave Aronberg: Sheila Keen-Warren had the means, the motive and the opportunity to do this.
  — Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2023
• Not that ‘Drivers License’ is ‘Landslide,’ by any means.
  — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2023
• To some extent, shopping for quality means defining what that means to you.
  — Annie Midori Atherton, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024
• He was charged with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive.
  — Jessie Opoien, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2024
• The new data pouring in mean scientists can finally build a fuller picture of how the sun works.
  — Rebecca Boyle, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024
• Leaving your account intact gives people a means to reach you.
  — Max Eddy, PCMAG, 1 June 2023
• Stylists with talent and a genuine love for their craft had a new means of turning their passion into a livelihood.
  — Annie Blay, Allure, 6 Mar. 2024
• The only means of getting off the island was either helicopter or boat.
  — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 4 Jan. 2024
• In the early days of Pawhuska, the bridge, constructed in 1926, was the only means by which travelers could cross Bird Creek to get into town.
  — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 19 Mar. 2024
• Lenin and Stalin disdained their softness: the end always justified the means.
  — Time, 24 Aug. 2023
• But aid delivery by other means faces the same issues at higher cost.
  — Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024

Last Updated: 9 May 2024