mentality

noun

men·tal·i·ty | \ men-ˈta-lə-tē

plural mentalities

Definition of mentality

1 : mental power or capacity : intelligence

2 : mode or way of thought : outlook the imperialist mentality of the nineteenth century— John Davies

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about mentality

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Examples of mentality in a Sentence

most teenagers do not have the mentality to foresee the consequences of such risky behavior

Recent Examples on the Web

In a new Instagram post, Aparicio shared an outfit that nailed the less-is-more mentality, wearing a Lela Rose lavender body-hugging dress that hit all the right places. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "Yalitza Aparicio of Roma Proves She’s a Fashion Star to Watch," 5 Jan. 2019 And a lot of the people had that mentality, correct? — Recode Staff, Recode, "How ‘hackers, founders, and freaks’ built Silicon Valley," 3 Aug. 2018 Shawn Holiday, who played two years at Arizona State, had a defense-first mentality. — J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, "Insider: Aaron Holiday's family ties at core of what makes him attractive to Pacers," 7 July 2018 But, for Butera, the hardest part is yet to come: changing the mentality. — Caterina Clerici & Eléonore Hamelin, Marie Claire, "Rwanda's Future Is Female," 1 Feb. 2019 DiorCouture Featuring women standing on each other's shoulders as a means of support, the all-female performance stood as a symbolic performance of the women-first mentality Chiuri brought with her to Dior. — Lauren Alexis Fisher, Harper's BAZAAR, "Dior Had Live Acrobats Perform on Its Couture Runway," 22 Jan. 2019 But cryptocurrency markets are subject to a herd mentality. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "Bitcoin and Ethereum fall to lows not seen since 2017," 19 Nov. 2018 Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, a more-is-more mentality overtook the carpet: Sonny and Cher showed up in 1973 looking fresh out of Studio 54, Cher clay in a heavy fur and groovy midriff-baring ensemble. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "The Best Golden Globes Dresses of All Time," 4 Jan. 2019 This time, instead of being a reaction to ’80s excess, the trend was a response to the flipper mentality of pre-crash America, which saw home renovation as a guaranteed gold mine. — Laura Fenton, Curbed, "How the ‘modern farmhouse’ look took over," 21 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mentality.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.