narrow-minded

American  

[nar-oh-mahyn-did] / ˈnær oʊˈmaɪn dɪd /

adjective

1. having or showing a prejudiced mind, as persons or opinions; biased.

   Synonyms:

   self-righteous, illiberal, intolerant, partial, biased, bigoted

   Antonyms:

   tolerant

2. not receptive to new ideas; having a closed mind.

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narrow-minded British  

adjective

1. having a biased or illiberal viewpoint; bigoted, intolerant, or prejudiced

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Other Word Forms

• narrow-mindedly
  adverb
• narrow-mindedness
  noun
• unnarrow-minded
  adjective
• unnarrow-mindedly
  adverb
• unnarrow-mindedness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of narrow-minded

First recorded in 1615–25

Explanation

When someone's narrow-minded, they're intolerant of other people's opinions and experiences. There's no convincing your narrow-minded uncle that Indian cuisine is delicious — he stubbornly insists that only "American" food tastes good. Being narrow-minded means that you've got a rigid and ungenerous perspective on the world. It's narrow-minded to believe that everyone who disagrees with you is wrong. A narrow-minded person can see only their own tiny slice of the world and doesn't attempt to learn about and understand other people's experiences. Prejudiced and biased people are also narrow-minded: "The narrow-minded opponents of integrated schools were on the wrong side of history."

Related Words

• hidebound
• parochial
• petty