mean-spirited

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.

Now he’s posting a social media message to the European team apologizing for the “rude and mean-spirited behavior” at the Cup.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

His misguided approach - often aped on the Accidentally Partridge social media account, which shares cringeworthy clips of public figures - is "provocative" but, Coogan hopes, "never mean-spirited."

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025

Divorce makes for good drama in any era, but vintage society’s unspoken rules about shunning divorced women seem simultaneously silly, bizarre and mean-spirited.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2025

Decorum is no longer required, and mean-spirited name-calling is no longer discouraged.

From Slate • Dec. 11, 2024

It was years before we realized that his unwieldy rules were designed to protect us from the evil possibilities of the mean-spirited world around us.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry