meanly

¹ American  

[meen-lee] / ˈmin li /

adverb

1. in a poor, lowly, or humble manner.

2. in a base, contemptible, selfish, or shabby manner.

3. in a stingy or miserly manner.

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meanly ² American  

[meen-lee] / ˈmin li /

adverb

Obsolete.

1. moderately.

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Etymology

Origin of meanly¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, meanly is from the Middle English word meneli. See mean ², -ly

Origin of meanly²

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; mean ³, -ly

Example Sentences

Plenty of working families are raising children and having fruitful social lives on median incomes or even less: Living thriftily is not the same as living penuriously or meanly.

From Los Angeles Times

“They are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably,” she said.

From Seattle Times

“They are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably while waiting for the trace of” poison to disappear, Navalnaya said.

From Seattle Times

It’s a meanly suggestive line, and it haunts the movie’s every subsequent frame; you can never be sure whether its three vignettes are being told in sequential order or happening completely independently of each other.

From Los Angeles Times

It rides that line between enjoying the genre without meanly mocking it.

From Salon