English - English
Definition of mean 2 in English English dictionary
- If you describe a place as mean, you think that it looks poor and dirty. He was raised on the mean streets of the central market district of Panama City
- If someone is being mean, they are being unkind to another person, for example by not allowing them to do something. The little girls had locked themselves in upstairs because Mack had been mean to them I'd feel mean saying no. + meanly mean·ly He had been behaving very meanly to his girlfriend
- disapproval If you describe someone as mean, you are being critical of them because they are unwilling to spend much money or to use very much of a particular thing. Don't be mean with fabric, otherwise curtains will end up looking skimpy. = stingy + meanness mean·ness This very careful attitude to money can sometimes border on meanness
- approval You can use no mean in expressions such as `no mean writer' and `no mean golfer' to indicate that someone does something well. She was no mean performer on a variety of other instruments
- disapproval If you describe an amount as mean, you are saying that it is very small. the meanest grant possible from the local council
- You can use no mean in expressions such as `no mean achievement' and `no mean task' to indicate that someone has done something they deserve to be proud of. To destroy 121 enemy aircraft is no mean record
- If you describe a person or animal as mean, you are saying that they are very bad-tempered and cruel. the meanest fighter in the world