MEAN-SPIRITEDNESS Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

mean-spiritedness

noun

as in animosity

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mean-spiritedness Every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and recklessness and mean-spiritedness and just plain craziness. — Halle Troadec, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2025 There’s a weird mean-spiritedness amongst young male losers that is harming them. — Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025 There was a mean-spiritedness that the white COs up in the mountains had for us that the Black and brown ones who guarded us in Sing Sing did not. — John J. Lennon september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mean-spiritedness

Noun

There’s animosity between the programs that dates back to Iowa declining to schedule Iowa State from 1935 until 1977, and every few years something pops up that gets under one another’s skin.

— Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
The animosity between Carter and Evel Knievel (played by Ben Foster) was mostly for show but is upped in Dowse’s film for dramatic purposes.

— Jennie Punter, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of animosity

Noun

The Very Online meanness, and attendant allegations of sexism and élitism, carries echoes of the rift between the Clintonites and the Bernie Bros; El-Sayed has talked openly of using a victory to shape the 2028 Presidential field.

— Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Sometimes the irony turns bitter and, with a typically Eastern European sensibility, highlights the paradoxes of institutions, as well as the madness and meanness born from the pursuit and preservation of power.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 8 June 2026

Definition of meanness

Noun

Kanarek told me that Gray’s antagonism, at the meeting and at other times, positions her as the ultimate instigator of the shooting.

— Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
By defining other civilizations as alien cultures, a civilizationist grand strategy might fuel antagonism rather than tolerate differences.

— Leonard A. Schuette, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of antagonism

Noun

Carriers have felt more comfortable bringing ultra-large container vessels through the area even with the hostilities in the Middle East lingering.

— Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026
The surge in withdrawals comes as the ICC faces hostility from Washington and a leadership crisis after ousting its own chief prosecutor.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of hostility

Noun

Stacey Humphreys, 53, was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown in an Atlanta suburb.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026
Dmitry Gorin, a former prosecutor, said in this case prosecutors would be able to prove implied malice from Rios driving.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of malice

Noun

On a day of love and spite and contrasts, his words resonate.

— George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Magneto’s words are said in spite to Charles, the man who will miss him the most — who cradles his helmet for hours after Apocalypse has gone, and who keeps reliving the memory of his death over and over again throughout the season.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of spite

Noun

But public rancor also inspired her to experiment with that form.

— René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026
Despite the rancor, with nearly a decade left on Taj’s contract, the board and the Indian hotel operators have been trying to negotiate a way forward.

— Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of rancor

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mean-spiritedness

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“Mean-spiritedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mean-spiritedness. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of mean-spiritedness

noun

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