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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meanness
Noun
-
Colt Gray, now 16, has been indicted on 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder, according to court documents.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
16 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
-
Colin Gray, 55, pleaded not guilty on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 20 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of reckless conduct.—
Mirna Alsharif,
NBC news,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Set to shoot in Kentucky in April, the film is based on the viral true story of Jeff Callaway and the rescue dog Ethan, whose miraculous survival inspired the world and led to meaningful changes to animal cruelty laws in Kentucky.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Mad Monarch of Mar-a-Lago is ridiculed worldwide as the babbling fool and face of Satan whose venom is deadly and far-reaching.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2026
-
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
-
What began as skepticism towards AI has curdled into a palpable AI hatred across the American workforce.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Given their hatred of Indigenous people, Casey and Frank set out to bring them back, a vengeance mission with echoes of The Searchers.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
17 Feb. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Meanness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meanness. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
