small-minded

American  

[smawl-mahyn-did] / ˈsmɔlˈmaɪn dɪd /

adjective

1. selfish, petty, or narrow-minded.

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small-minded British  

adjective

1. narrow-minded; petty; intolerant; mean

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Other Word Forms

• small-mindedly
  adverb
• small-mindedness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of small-minded

First recorded in 1840–50

Explanation

Someone who's small-minded has a narrow perspective or very firm, unchangeable opinions on things. It's almost impossible to get a small-minded voter to change his or her mind. If you're small-minded, you have a biased view of the world, and you're probably not very tolerant of those with different opinions or experiences. It's as if small-minded people can't step outside their own perspective to empathize with others. A small-minded governor might want to keep all immigrants out of his state, and someone with a small-minded focus on money won't understand your dream of being a poet.

Example Sentences

Determined to give her niece a stable upbringing, Aunt Irene unhappily but dutifully left a comfortable life in Ohio to return to her small-minded hometown in the Deep South.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

But it’s not just the small — and small-minded, and small-hearted — wealthy libertarian or right-wing elite.

From Salon • Jul. 19, 2025

Speaking ahead of his appearance, he said he wanted to show people he was not "mean-spirited, small-minded, nasty".

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2023

Bill Plaschke’s obsessive hatred of the Astros does little more than reveal how small-minded he is.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2023

How small-minded and hypocritical mortal man was, for even as they despised the enders of life, they loved nature—which, in those days, took every human life ever conceived.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman