as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
nothing more than unprovoked meanness drove him to smash the child's toy
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meanness
Noun
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Colt Gray, now 16, has been indicted on 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder, and will be tried as an adult, according to court documents.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026 -
Nevermind that this is obviously the work of someone acting deliberately, stealthily and with obvious malice – not a drunk stumbling into their homes.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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One has simply grown so accustomed to his cruelty that, in an episode with so many other people acting on their worst impulses, Stephen stands out for momentarily acting on a good one.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
10 Feb. 2026
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Gray faces 29 charges, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and multiple counts of second-degree cruelty to children.—
La'Tasha Givens,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Anti-Israel letter writers might want to direct their venom at the brutality that’s going on in Syria at the present time.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
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Then their own mother turned venom against them, the object of their wounding telling them that the shape of their wounds was never really there.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Emily Brontë’s novel is a book that stains — its emotions seep through generations, its hatreds metastasize, its love transforms into something unholy and permanent.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
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The Talmud teaches that Jerusalem was destroyed not only because of hatred, but because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred fueled by moral absolutism.—
Rabbi Bruce D. Forman,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Meanness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meanness. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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