Etymology
Origin of meanness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Mr. Cornyn has no gift for meanness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
“I think the way you ask the question, with the anger and the meanness, is terrible. You go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.”
From Salon • Nov. 18, 2025
Rourke later apologised to Siwa, and told the housemates he "didn't say it out of meanness".
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2025
He just had the most genuinely funny mind without trying and even when it was aimed at you, chiding you, there was never meanness or malice.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2024
Your kindness may be meanness now, and your bleak honesty fretful and conniving.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
