mean
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.
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It doesn't mean you're going to win every game or even have a great season, but it definitely helps.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
While investment returns obviously vary, paying off your mortgage today could mean giving up roughly $1.7 million in potential investment growth over the next 20 years.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026
Reporter Justin Lahart examines why slow job growth doesn’t necessarily mean the labor market is in trouble.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
“I mean, he could be taking a shower. I don’t know what’s up there. I need a ladder.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
“You don’t mean to tell me you come from Terre Haute in that thing today.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Cornell’s new dorm policy means students hoping to recreate the episode will now have to take their bear elsewhere.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
That means selling appreciated Massachusetts property before establishing Florida residency could leave you owing Massachusetts taxes on the gain.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026
The ever-growing list of restrictions on cheap fares means you’re less likely to actually fly on the cheap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The path of the eclipse shadow means this year the UK won't see a total eclipse, but in Yorkshire and the North-East the sun will be about 92% obscured, he explained.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
“He means he wants you to shut up—like the rest of us.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The Financial Times's Danny Leigh dished out three stars, saying it paints a "portrait of tech rendering the young both sadder and meaner".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
BP’s “leaner meaner approach could pave the way for more sustainable payouts to shareholders” but investors will want some assurance on its spending plans, Nathan says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
In turn, increased efficiency allows them to be meaner toward prospective employees.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
“Some people are more culpable than others. They get more jokes made about them, and the jokes are meaner because they're doing things that are worse,” Bee says.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2025
“I think it would be meaner if I told him I didn’t like him.”
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
Not only has Gabriel been a lynchpin in the top-flight's meanest defence – he has caused the opposition real problems at set-plays.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
"Candidates should not try to be the meanest sheriff."
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
Readers eventually learn how Odd, whom Buddy describes as “the meanest human creature in my experience,” ends up at Buddy’s home for the holiday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
So, whenever my phone lights up, I can trust that I’m about to read the meanest, funniest joke imaginable about, like, Marco Rubio.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025
“I would say that’s probably the meanest thing anyone’s ever done to me.”
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
Pakistan's foreign ministry said Friday the pact meant an attack on any member would be regarded as an attack on all, adding it was "intended to strengthen collective deterrence".
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
FFE would have meant a new company being created to manage commercial and ticketing rights, with 21% sold off to a private investment company.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
But even some of the grants slated to fund more traditional human rights projects skirt federal requirements for competitive bidding that are meant to deter waste, fraud and abuse.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Our first reaction was that the lack of a lopsided verdict meant that El-Sayed would have to work that much harder to bring the party together.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
Mr. Whipple and his assistant superintendent set aside their overcoats and unfolded forms they meant to fill out.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
However, achieving what the researchers defined as substantial protection, meaning a reduction in risk of more than 30%, was associated with 560 to 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
By the People is Slate’s end-of-term project exploring the ways in which ordinary Americans have shaped the meaning of the Constitution beyond the rulings of the Supreme Court.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
Earlier this year, Katseye member Manon Bannerman also hit pause on performing with the pop group, meaning Saturday’s headlining performance in Pasadena will feature four of the group’s original six members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
This is because many children are being born in complex circumstances, often without the knowledge of the father - meaning their births cannot be registered, explains Abu Bakr Yousif Yaqoub, Nada's director of protection programmes.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
However, in this episode Rainbow falls into a funk after losing an important competition and questions the meaning of everything a pony holds dear.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Vocabulary lists containing mean
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Psychology
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