meanmean2 ●●● S3 adjective (comparative meaner, superlative meanest) 
That was a mean thing to do. I felt a bit mean asking him to help. It’s a mean trick to play on someone. It was mean of him not to invite her.mean to Don’t be so mean to her!► see thesaurus at unkind2not generous British English not wanting to spend money, or not wanting to use much of something SYN stingy, cheap American English: He’s too mean to buy a present for his wife.mean with He’s always been mean with his money. It was supposed to be garlic bread, but they’d been a bit mean with the garlic.3no mean feat/achievement/task etc something that is very difficult to do, so that someone who does it deserves to be admired: They sold 1 million cards in the first year of business – no mean feat, given the problems many businesses are facing.4be no mean performer/player etc to be very good at doing something: Kinnock is no mean performer on the rugby field.5a mean something informal used to say that something is very good or that someone is very good at doing something: He plays a mean game of poker. They serve a mean Sunday brunch at the restaurant on Fourth Street.6average [only before noun] technical average: The study involved 60 patients with a mean age of 58.2 years. The mean annual rainfall was 852 mm.7poor [only before noun] literary poor or looking poor: She walked briskly through the mean and dirty streets.—meanly adverb—meanness noun [uncountable]
WORD ORIGINmean2
Origin:
1-5, 7 Old English gemæne6 1300-1400 Old French meien, from Latin medianus; ➔ MEDIAN2EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He's so mean, he won't even buy his wife a birthday present.
- He was mean to those who worked for him and generous to those who he hardly knew.
- I never thought he was capable of doing such a mean thing to his brother.
- It was mean of you to disturb her when she was having a rest.
- Marsha has always been mean with her money.
- My father was a mean old man who resented every penny he spent on us.
- Rick's so mean he never even buys his wife a birthday present.
- Sharon and the others were really mean to me at school today.
- She hated him for being so mean. Why was he stopping her from seeing her friends?
- That was a mean trick.
- The mean length of stay in the hospital is 11 days.
- There's no reason to be mean.
- We soon found out that our new teacher could be real mean.
- In the garden grey airs blow moist, but the mean sky holds on to its water.
- Now with Sam gone Helen will get meaner and meaner to me like always.
- The mean labelling indices did not change significantly over time regardless of whether or not there were recurrences.
- The disparity between solar noon and mean noon widens and narrows as the seasons change, on a sliding scale.
THESAURUS
treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty: · Children can be very unkind to each other.· a rather unkind remark
especially spoken unkind: · Don’t be mean to your sister!· It was a mean thing to do.
deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy: · He said some really nasty things before he left.· a nasty man
unkind – used about remarks and actions: · Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.· Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them: · The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do.· She watched them with spiteful glee (=pleasure).
deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone: · Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him.· There was a malicious smile on her face.· an act of malicious vandalism· The accusations are malicious.
not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better: · Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam.· an unsympathetic boss
very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings: · Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight?· a hard-hearted businessman
Longman Language Activatornot generous also miserly not generous, especially in small ways, when you could easily afford to be generous: · They are rich, but they are terribly stingy.· A hard, miserly woman, she left her daughters emotionally damaged.stingy with: · I don't know why they were so stingy with the drinks -- they have plenty of money.
British someone who is mean does not like spending money or sharing what they have with other people: · He's so mean, he won't even buy his wife a birthday present.mean with: · Marsha has always been mean with her money.
spoken informal someone who is tight or tight-fisted is not at all generous and tries hard to avoid spending money: · "I don't think I'll bother getting them a present." "Don't be so tight!"· Don't even ask Dad. You know how tight-fisted he is about these kinds of things.· a tight-fisted bosstight with money: · Even as a young man, Paul was notoriously tight with his money.
spending very little, or always spending less than is needed, often because you do not have very much money: · His grandparents were humourless and penny-pinching.· She could finally tolerate no more of his coldness and penny-pinching ways.· Unfortunately we have a penny-pinching local government that spends as little as possible on parks and sports facilities.
unpleasant person/behaviour especially British behaving in a very rude, unkind, or annoying way: · Her husband was a horrible man - lazy, and always drunk.· I really don't like her at all - she's horrible!be horrible to somebody: · I think I'll go out if you're just going to be horrible to me.
rude or unfriendly in the way you talk to people or answer their questions: · That man in the grocery store is always so unpleasant.· Did she really say that? What an unpleasant person!be unpleasant to somebody: · You shouldn't have been so unpleasant to her - she was only trying to help.
someone who is nasty has a very unpleasant character and is often unkind to people: · I'd avoid him. if I were you. He can be quite nasty.· My first boss was a really nasty person, who seemed to enjoy making life difficult for everyone.be nasty to/towards somebody: · Some of the older boys were being very nasty to him.
American rude and unkind in the way you treat people: · We soon found out that our new teacher could be real mean.be mean to somebody: · Sharon and the others were really mean to me at school today.
especially spoken unkind or unfriendly - use this especially about things people say to each other: · They just told us to shut up, which wasn't very nice.not very nice of somebody: · It wasn't very nice of him to have a party without inviting me.
rude and offensive, especially deliberately Objectionable is more formal than obnoxious: · I'd hate to be her secretary -- she's so obnoxious.· You're behaving like a spoilt obnoxious child.· I'd never have employed him if I'd realized what an objectionable person he was.· What was most objectionable about her was her arrogance.
informal someone who you dislike because they are unpleasant and behave in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable: · Get out of here you little creep! You make me sick!· He didn't say that, did he? What a creep!
informal someone who is very unpleasant and is likely to behave in a cruel or violent way: · Casey and Wyatt went round in a gang with Don, who was a nasty piece of work.· Why would anyone want to kill Howard, do you think?" "It's obvious. He was a nasty piece of work."
someone who hates spending money not generous with your money, even though you are not poor: · Don't be so stingy! It's your turn to buy me a drink.· It's no use asking him - he's too stingy to give money to charity.
British someone who is mean does not like spending money or sharing what they have with other people: · Rick's so mean he never even buys his wife a birthday present.· My father was a mean old man who resented every penny he spent on us.
American, especially spoken someone who is cheap does not like spending money, and always tries to avoid spending it: · Uncle Matt was really cheap - he used to stay with us for weeks, and he never paid for anything.
informal not generous with money - use this about people who annoy you because they have money but do not like spending it: · He was known to have made a fortune on the stock market, but was nonetheless notoriously tight-fisted.
someone who hates spending money, and prefers to save as much as possible - use this especially about someone who has collected a lot of money by doing this: · Mr Henny was a miser who had thousands of pounds hidden away under his bed.
treating someone unkindly someone who is unkind treats people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset: · Children can be very unkind.unkind to: · I felt very sorry for being unkind to her.it is unkind (of somebody) to do something: · It would be unkind to keep him in suspense for too long.
someone who is mean deliberately speaks to someone unkindly or does things to annoy them or make them angry: · She hated him for being so mean. Why was he stopping her from seeing her friends?· I never thought he was capable of doing such a mean thing to his brother.mean to: · He was mean to those who worked for him and generous to those who he hardly knew.it is mean (of somebody) to do something: · It was mean of you to disturb her when she was having a rest.
someone who is nasty is deliberately unkind, and seems to enjoy making people unhappy: · When I was a child I did some nasty things to my little brother.· I don't mean to be nasty, but I don't think we should work together any more.nasty to: · Paul, you mustn't be nasty to the children. You'll make them cry.
someone who is cruel is very unkind, and does not seem to care about other people's feelings: · He didn't seem the sort of man to be cruel on purpose.cruel to: · She married a man who was very cruel to her.it is cruel (of somebody) to do something: · It was cruel of you to frighten the poor boy like that.
deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them: · Failure had made him bitter and spiteful.· That was a wicked and spiteful thing to do.
to be unkind to someone by criticizing them or treating them more severely than is fair: · He's only just started work here -- you mustn't be too hard on him.· I thought you were a little hard on Denise, not letting her go to the party.
informal to be unkind to someone by criticizing them in a way that is not fair: · She left the company because her boss was giving her a really hard time.· Stop giving me such a hard time. I'm doing my best.
to be unkind to someone because you are angry or upset about something else, even though it is not their fault: · I know you've had a bad day at the office, but don't take it out on me.· I'm sorry I was rotten to you, but there was no one else to take it out on.
WORD SETSabacus, nounalgebra, nounangle, nounarc, nounarea, nounarithmetic, nounarithmetic, adjectivearithmetic progression, nounaxis, nounbar chart, nounbar graph, nounbase, nounbinomial, nounbisect, verbBoolean, adjectiveC, nouncalculator, nouncalculus, nouncanonical, adjectivechord, nouncipher, nouncircumference, nouncircumscribe, verbcompass, nouncomplementary, adjectivecomputation, nouncompute, verbconcentric, adjectivecone, nouncongruent, adjectiveconical, adjectiveconstant, nouncontain, verbcoordinate, nouncoordinate, adjectivecos, cosine, nouncube, nouncubic, adjectivecurvature, nouncurve, nouncut, verbdeci-, prefixdeviation, noundiagonal, adjectivediameter, noundifferential calculus, noundigit, noundimension, noundomain, nouneccentric, adjectiveellipse, nounelliptical, adjectiveequal, adjectiveequal, verbequals sign, nounequation, nounequilateral triangle, nounexponential, adjectiveexpress, verbexpression, nounface, nounfigure, nounflow chart, nounformula, nounfraction, nounfractional, adjectivefunction, noungeometric, adjectivegeometry, noungraph, noungraphically, adverbgraph paper, noungrid, nounHCF, helix, nounheptagon, nounhexagon, nounhistogram, nounhypotenuse, nounimperial, adjectiveimproper fraction, nouninfinity, nouninformation theory, nouninnumerate, adjectiveinto, prepositioninverse, adjectiveisosceles triangle, nounline graph, log, nounlogarithm, nounlong division, nounlozenge, nounmath, nounmathematical, adjectivemathematician, nounmathematics, nounmatrix, nounmean, adjectivemedian, nounmedian, adjectivemetric, adjectiveminus, prepositionminus, nounminus, adjectiveminus sign, nounminute, nounmultiplication, nounmultiplication sign, nounmultiplication table, nounmultiply, verbN, nounnumber, nounnumerate, adjectivenumeration, nounoblong, adjectiveobtuse angle, nounoctagon, nounoval, nounparabola, nounparallel, adjectiveparallelogram, nounpentagon, nounpercentage, nounperimeter, nounperpendicular, nounpi, nounpictogram, nounpie chart, nounplane, nounplane geometry, nounplus, prepositionplus, nounplus, adjectiveplus sign, nounpolygon, nounpolyhedron, nounpower, nounprism, nounprobability, nounproof, nounproportion, nounproposition, nounprotractor, nounquadrangle, nounquadrant, nounquadratic equation, nounquadri-, prefixquadrilateral, nounradius, nounratio, nounrectangle, nounrectilinear, adjectiverecur, verbrhombus, nounright angle, nounright-angled triangle, nounroot, nounruler, nounscale, nounscalene triangle, nounscatter diagram, section, nounsegment, nounsemicircle, nounset square, nounsine, nounslide rule, nounsolid, adjectivesolid, nounsolution, nounsolve, verbsphere, nounsquare, adjectivesquare, nounsquare, verbsquare, adverbsquarely, adverbsquare root, nounsubset, nounsubtract, verbsubtraction, nounsum, nounsurface area, nounsymmetrical, adjectivesymmetry, nountangent, nounterm, nountheorem, nounthreefold, adjectivetimes, prepositiontrapezium, nountriangle, nountrigonometry, nountwo-dimensional, adjectivevalue, nounvariable, nounvector, nounVenn diagram, nounvertex, nounvertical, adjectivevolume, nounwork, verbX, nounx-axis, nouny-axis, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It was mean of him not to invite her.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES the arithmetic mean (=average) It was said on the spur of the moment and I meant no disrespect to anybody. fingerprinting as a means of identification Sometimes it’s better not to ask too many questions, if you know what I mean. ‘I just felt so tired.’ ‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’ (=I understand, because I have had the same experience) I said I felt like quitting, but I didn’t mean it literally (=I did not mean exactly what I said)! Fishing is the main source of livelihood for many people in the area. Politics meant nothing (=was not important) to me for years. research into liquid hydrogen as a means of propulsion I see what you mean (=I understand what you are saying). People need to get out of their cars and use other modes of transportation.
It was mean of him not to invite her. (=be difficult to achieve and therefore worth admiring)· He got the top mark in the country which is no mean achievement.
the arithmetic mean (=average) (=not definite)· Victory was by no means certain for Smith.
(=be very unclear)· The directions she gave me were far from clear.
(=a way of exchanging information)· There were no roads and no means of communication with the people in the mountains.
· When I said she’d lost weight, I meant it as a compliment.
(=think of a way)· We must devise a means of transport that does not pollute the atmosphere.
It was said on the spur of the moment and I meant no disrespect to anybody.· Is reducing the speed limit an effective means of reducing accidents?
· The tram is a very efficient means of transport.
(=used to say that something bad is acceptable, if it achieves a good result)· Their defence, that the end justifies the means, is not acceptable.
(=a way of achieving what you want)· To Joe, work was a means to an end, nothing more.
(=a way of escaping)· She searched in vain for a means of escape.
(=a way of forgetting about a bad situation)· Drugs and alcohol are their only means of escape.
· Art is not just a means of expression, it is also a means of communication.
(=something that is difficult to do) It is no mean feat to perform such a difficult piece.
It is no mean feat to perform such a difficult piece. fingerprinting as a means of identification (=used to ask if someone understands or has the same feeling as you) It’s nice to have a change sometimes. Know what I mean?
It’s nice to have a change sometimes. Know what I mean? Sometimes it’s better not to ask too many questions, if you know what I mean. ‘I just felt so tired.’ ‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’ (=I understand, because I have had the same experience) I said I felt like quitting, but I didn’t mean it literally (=I did not mean exactly what I said)! Fishing is the main source of livelihood for many people in the area. Politics meant nothing (=was not important) to me for years.· We must redistribute power in this country by peaceful means.
research into liquid hydrogen as a means of propulsion· What did you mean by that remark?
(=cause ruin for someone)· They fear that the proposals could mean ruin for small football clubs.
I see what you mean (=I understand what you are saying).· Horses and carts were the only means of transport.
People need to get out of their cars and use other modes of transportation.· I find the train a more comfortable mode of travel.
(=mean there will be trouble)· They are now much more competitive, which can only spell trouble for their rivals.
(=suddenly become angry, violent etc) The police are worried that the situation could turn violent.
The police are worried that the situation could turn violent.· We are discussing ways and means of bringing jobs to our area.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· No mean achievement given the established market domination by Sage.· For an immigrant boy this marital alliance was no mean achievement.· But that was no mean achievement.· It will be no mean achievement.· This is no mean achievement as it means achieving Guild membership consistently for five successive years.· To have provided such an advance on existing theories is no mean achievement.· Considering that we were completely and utterly untrained at this stage of the war, this was no mean achievement.
· The mean age of a sample of fourteen was 18 7.· The mean age increased together with the severity of the oesophageal injury.· Their mean age was 46.6 years with a range of 21-82 years, and 10 were men.· In each site in both series, the mean age of the women was greater than the mean age of the men.· The mean ages of onset of colitis in the benign and malignant groups were 31 and 24 years respectively.· To improve precision, it is usual to date several samples from the same archaeological level to determine the mean age.· The mean age was 40 years, an equal male/female distribution was found.· Five male cases died at mean age 47.8, compared with two controls at 49.5.
· The mean distance of the electron from the central proton defines the atom's size.
· Secondly, the mean duration of treatment before study termination was similar in both groups.
· On Tuesday Invergordon Distillers reported a marginal improvement in underlying profits, no mean feat given the difficulties facing the whisky sector.· Given that there are some 20,000 such fastenings in a boat of this size, this is no mean feat.· This is no mean feat as the statute has 108 sections divided into 12 separate parts, together with 15 schedules.· The discovery of an effect with such a long latent period was no mean feat of epidemiology.
· The mean number of errors made during each trial was calculated for each group.· A mean number of 10 well orientated crypts were examined for each specimen.· The mean number of letters recalled across the 12 subjects for each time delay was then calculated.· Table 3.1 shows the mean number of correct responses given by each age group.· The mean number of hits was 9.3 and false alarms 3.1.· This indicates an increase in the mean number of quanta released per trial.· The mean number of hits and false alarms in Table 4.6 are out of a maximum possible number of nine.
· The middle third yielded a mean score of 54 percent and this was also the overall mean score.· The figures in the table are thus mean scores of the means for the organizations in the three groups.· The test yielded a mean score of just over 50 percent for all pupils participating.· Main outcome measures - Improvement in mean scores on Hamilton depression rating scale for 55 randomised controlled trials.· The boys' mean score was 57 percent and the girls' 51 percent.· The mean scores at baseline for the subgroup of students who were followed up were the same as for those not followed up.
· They'd ganged up on Kenny and afterwards he looked as if the mean streets had come up to meet him face first.· Hopkins, noted for a ferocious work ethic, often refers to prison and life on the mean streets.· Down the mean streets of the urban wasteland treads psychiatrist Trevor Turner, looking for the tell-tale signs.
· This behaviour is similar to the observed evolution of the mean temperature in the lower stratosphere during 1984 and 1989.· The mean temperature in Champagne is 10.53°C sheltered at 2 metres above the ground and 11.21°C at 0.2 metres above the ground.· Since then they have been both warmer and colder, with oscillations of the order of 1-2°C about annual mean temperatures.
· Where more than one sample has been used, mean values are shown here, although there are within-species differences.· This pattern has been constructed by finding the mean value of coin loss at eighty-eight sites.· The data were then grouped according to the mean value.· Applications are then made either side of this mean value, depending on crop greenness.· The statistical significance of the difference between the mean value of groups was tested by Student's t test for unpaired values.
· The mean velocity also varies vertically, and we shall confine attention to two-dimensional flow.· Firstly, the mean velocity profile may be liable to local instability, somewhat analogous to instability of laminar flow.· The turbulence is being kept going by the working of this against the mean velocity gradient.· In most turbulent flows, for example, only the mean velocity can be measured with a Pitot tube.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► by fair means or foul► mean no harm/not mean any harm► woman/man etc of independent means► just because ... it doesn’t mean► this means war► mean the world to somebody/think the world of somebody
1cruel cruel or not kind: - But that was no mean achievement.
- For an immigrant boy this marital alliance was no mean achievement.
- Given that there are some 20,000 such fastenings in a boat of this size, this is no mean feat.
- In particular the notion that nurse training is for the young and for women only must be dispelled; no mean task.
- In this case it was no mean task.
- On Tuesday Invergordon Distillers reported a marginal improvement in underlying profits, no mean feat given the difficulties facing the whisky sector.
- This is no mean feat as the statute has 108 sections divided into 12 separate parts, together with 15 schedules.
- This is no mean task, especially if they have not been doing any recruitment for the past few months.
- Kinnock fils, who is no mean performer on the rugby field, has developed a taste for academe.
- Stritch plays a mean piano.
- They always put on a mean Sunday brunch.
- And to prove we mean business, our members will stage a one-day strike next week.
- Firm action would show both sides that the EU and the UN really meant business.
- The man had a gun. It was obvious he meant business.
- But as the oil men realised that we meant business, seizures began to drop.
- But when it bites, it means business.
- For one local company it's meant business taking off like a rocket.
- One of the quintet not only means business but high-minded, selfless business.
- They looked as though they meant business.
- This does not necessarily mean businesses must avoid all such one-of-a-kinds whatever their nature.
- Those boys knew we meant business.
- Zhou had discarded his usual severe tunic for a gray Western business suit, and he meant business.
- Bradley doesn't know diddly about running his own business.
- Walt's family means everything to him.
- Beckwith meant everything to him, she'd recognized that from the first.
- Does that mean everything deserves a Nobel Prize?
- It meant everything to her to be able to play her senior year.
- On the other hand, a word can not mean everything and something at the same time.
- She needed to be everything she could be and London would provide for that.
- Timing can be everything, even in rocket science.
- Well, that seems to be everything so far as tomorrow is concerned.
- Straight? How do you mean, straight?
- And now, how do you mean translated?
- You know, it isn't all sweetness and light here, not by any manner of means.
- "It sounds like things aren't going too well for you lately." "What's that supposed to mean?"
- Bomb threats and other dirty tricks kept many voters at home.
- We understood his lack of response to mean "no."
- Accent, tone, fluency and vocabulary can affect the ability of sender and receiver to understand or to be understood.
- After a while-it seemed like an eternity-Philip usually acknowledged that he understood what needed to be accomplished.
- Barmy anyway, which is what I understand you to mean.
- Hicks understood it to mean Those Who Are.
- Homosexuals have as much right to be understood, to be treated with compassionate love as the rest of us.
- Isabel had always understood Faith to mean that she should have it.
- Must you really understand duration to be a savvy investor?
- To understand is to be betrayed.
That was a mean thing to do. I felt a bit mean asking him to help. It’s a mean trick to play on someone. It was mean of him not to invite her.mean to Don’t be so mean to her!► see thesaurus at unkind2not generous British English not wanting to spend money, or not wanting to use much of something SYN stingy, cheap American English: He’s too mean to buy a present for his wife.mean with He’s always been mean with his money. It was supposed to be garlic bread, but they’d been a bit mean with the garlic.3no mean feat/achievement/task etc something that is very difficult to do, so that someone who does it deserves to be admired: They sold 1 million cards in the first year of business – no mean feat, given the problems many businesses are facing.4be no mean performer/player etc to be very good at doing something: Kinnock is no mean performer on the rugby field.5a mean something informal used to say that something is very good or that someone is very good at doing something: He plays a mean game of poker. They serve a mean Sunday brunch at the restaurant on Fourth Street.6average [only before noun] technical average: The study involved 60 patients with a mean age of 58.2 years. The mean annual rainfall was 852 mm.7poor [only before noun] literary poor or looking poor: She walked briskly through the mean and dirty streets.—meanly adverb—meanness noun [uncountable]- New Internationalist, The
- New Jersey
- New Jerusalem
- New Labour
- New Lad
- new-look
- newly
- newlywed
- newlyweds
- New Man
- Newman, Cardinal John Henry
- Newman, Paul
- Newmarket
- new media
- New Mexico
- New Model Army
- new money
- new moon
- New Musical Express, The
- newness
- New Orleans
- Newport
- Newport Jazz Festival
- new potato
- new rich