Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Meanness |
MeannessNoun1. The quality of being deliberately mean. 2. Extreme stinginess. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "meanness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Synonyms: MeannessSynonyms: beastliness (n), closeness (n), minginess (n), niggardliness (n), niggardness (n), parsimoniousness (n), parsimony (n), tightfistedness (n), tightness (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Selfishness | Illiberality; meanness; Adjective: |
Smallness | Noun: smallness; Adjective: littleness; (small size); tenuity; paucity; fewness; (small number); meanness, insignificance (unimportance); mediocrity, moderation. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Meanness |
| English words defined with "meanness": Abjectness, anal ♦ Beggarliness ♦ Contractedness ♦ Low-mindedness ♦ Modicity ♦ Parvanimity, Puppyism ♦ Scurviness ♦ To skin a flint. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "meanness": Spoons. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Abraham Lincoln | Honest statesmanship is the wise employment of individual meanness for the public good. |
Walter Bagehot | Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | To every villainous meanness of this model man it gave a hidden, higher, Socialistic interpretation, the exact contrary of its real character. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The sweat, the heat, his long walk, and the dust, added an indescribable meanness to his tattered appearance |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I had been hitherto all my life a stranger to courts, for which I was unqualified by the meanness of my condition |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | We should never cheat and insult and banish one another by our meanness, if there were present the kernel of worth and friendliness |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Meanness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Meanness" is used about 68 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 68 | 40,606 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
meanness | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "meanness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | poshtërsi (dirtiness, enormity, infamy, naughtiness, perfidy, turpitude, vileness, villainy, wickedness), koprraci (avarice, cheese paring, closeness, miserliness, money-grubbing, parsimony, rapacity, stinginess). (various references) | |
Arabic | خسة (abjectness, baseness, ignobility, littleness, lowness, sordidness, villainy), خباثة, دناءة (abjection, littleness, low tide, servility, sordidness), بخل (avarice, littleness, miserliness, scant, scrimp, skimp, spare, stinginess, stint). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | гадост (abomination, obscenity, yuk), низост (abjection, baseness, dirtiness, infamy, iniquity, manginess, squalor, turpitude, villainy, yellowness), посредственост (dead level, feebleness, indifference, mediocrity), подлост (abjection, bad faith, baseness, treachery, turpitude, villainy), духовна нищета. (various references) | |
Chinese | 卑劣. (various references) | |
Czech | sprostota (dirtiness, ordure, scurrility, vulgarity), podlost (foul trick, turpitude), lakota (avarice, greed, miserliness, nearness). (various references) | |
Finnish | pikkumaisuus, kataluus (baseness), alhaisuus (baseness, lowness). (various references) | |
French | mesquinerie, manque de c"ur, malignité, méchanceté, vacherie, saleté, pauvreté, avarice. (various references) | |
German | gemeinheit (beastliness, bitchiness, coarseness, cussedness, dirty trick, disreputableness, hoggishness, infamy, lousiness, lowness, mean thing, nastiness, nasty treatment, nuisance, scurviness, skulduggery, snottiness, sordidness, spitefulness, ugliness, unkindness, viciousness, vulgarity). (various references) | |
Greek | μικροπρέπεια (pettiness), χαμέρπεια (sneakiness), ευτέλεια (baseness, cheapness, worthlessness). (various references) | |
Hebrew | שפלות (baseness, decadence, humiliation, sordidness, turpitude), קמצ ות (miserliness, parsimony, stinginess), קט ו יות (niggling, pettiness, triviality), עו י (indigence, misery, pauperism, penury, poorness, poverty, privation, want), זולות (baseness, cheapness), "לות (indigence, leanness, poorness, poverty), בזות (manginess, nastiness, villainy, vulgarity, wretchedness). (various references) | |
Hungarian | közepesség (mediocrity, middle-classness), hitványság (baseness, despicability, perfidy, rascality, squalor, vileness). (various references) | |
Italian | miseria (beggary, destitution, indigence, misery, misfortunes, pittance, poverty, troubles, want, wretchedness), taccagneria (stinginess), sordidezza (sordidness, squalor), ristrettezza (financial straits, lack, need). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 醜悪 (offensiveness, ugliness), 卑屈 (abject, menial, servility). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しゅうあく (offensiveness, ugliness), ひくつ (abject, menial, servility), ひきょう (adversity, comparison, cowardice, esoteric religion, one of the most secluded regions, sad circumstances, similitude, unexplored region, unfairness), ろうれつ, やひ (base, mean, vulgar, vulgarity), 'ひ" (coarseness, indecency, vulgarity). (various references) | |
Manx | kercheenys (abjection, abjectness, base meanness, baseness, dependency, servility, shabbiness, slavishness, vileness, wretchedness). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eannessmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mesquinharia (littleness), mediocridade (mediocrity), vileza (lowness, servility, vileness, villainy), tacanhez de espírito, inferioridade (inferiority, poorness), baixeza (baseness, dirtiness, foulness, humiliation, lowness, servility, turpitude). (various references) | |
Romanian | mârşãvie (dirtiness, indignity, infamy, lowness), ticãloşie (abjection, baseness, blackness, dirt, filth, foulness, ignominiousness, ignominy, infamy, knavery, knavishness, misdeed, rascality, swinishness, wickedness, wretchedness), sãrãcie (baldness, barrenness, dearth, destitution, impecuniosity, indigence, misery, necessity, neediness, poverty, privation, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, sterility, stringency, want), josnicie (baseness, lowness, scurrility, vileness, villainy), infamie (dirt, disgrace, flagrancy, infamy, villainy), condiţie umilã (lowness), caracter sãrãcãcios. (various references) | |
Russian | низость (abjection, abjectness, baseness, filth, lowness, rascality, rottenness, turpitude). (various references) | |
Scottish | spìoc (dastardliness), sgleamhas. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zlobnost (viciousness), pakost (malevolence, malice, mischief), niskost (baseness, turpitude). (various references) | |
Spanish | mezquindad (paltriness, pettiness, scabbiness, shabbiness), maldad (badness, devilry, evil, evildoing, malice, sinfulness, wickedness), vileza (base act, disreputableness, lousiness, snottiness, sordidness, turpitude, vileness), tacañería (miserliness, skimpiness, stinginess, tightness), humildad (humility, lowliness, self-effacement), escasez (dearth, famine, lack, need, parsimony, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, sparseness, stinginess, tightness, want). (various references) | |
Swedish | gemenhet (foulness, infamy, lowness, perfidy, trick, wickedness), elakhet (cruelty, devilry, deviltry, evilness, malevolence, malice, malignancy, naughtiness, spitefulness, unkindness, venom, wickedness). (various references) | |
Turkish | hasislik (rapaciousness, rapacity, stinginess), cimrilik (closeness, costiveness, illiberality, manginess, miserliness, nearness, parsimony, penury, sordidness, stinginess), alçaklık (baseness, contemptibility, cowardice, dastardliness, enormity, ignominy, lowness, recreancy, turpitude), adilik (banality, baseness, commonness, contemptibility, dastardliness, dinginess, dirtiness, inferiority, lewdness, slavishness, smallness, sordidness, vulgarity). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | скупість (cheeseparing, closeness, covetousness, illiberality, miserliness, parsimony, tightness), бідність (bareness, humility, misery, necessity, need, penury, poorness, poverty, shabbiness, tenuity, underprivilege), підлість (baseness, dirtiness, infamy, pettiness). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | việc bần tiện, tính hèn hạ (baseness, scurviness, shabbiness), tính bần tiện (contemptibility, contemptibleness, illiberality, illiberalness, lousiness), tính bủn xỉn việc hèn hạ. (various references) | |
Welsh | gwaeledd (illness), anhaeledd. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | avaritia, avaritiae, avaritiam, sordes. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "meanness": meannesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Meanness" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Mannesi, manyness, meanes, meaness, meines, melanosis, menezes. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "meanness" (pronounced mē"nnus) |
| 5 | -ē" n n u s | cleanness, greenness. |
| 4 | -n n u s | drunkenness, evenness, humanness, oneness, openness, sternness, stubbornness, suddenness, thinness. |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleverness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greatness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, onus, orderliness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, sturdiness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-m-n-n-s-s" | |
-2 letters: enemas, manses, mensae, mensas, menses, mesnes, messan, seamen, semens, sennas, sesame. | |
-3 letters: amens, eases, enema, manes, manse, masse, means, mensa, mense, mesas, mesne, names, neems, nemas, nenes, sanes, seams, seems, semen, semes, senna, sensa, sense. | |
-4 letters: amen, anes, ease, emes, eses, maes, mane, mans, mass, mean, mesa, mess, name, nans, neem, nema, nene. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-e-m-n-n-s-s" | |
+1 letter: anamneses. | |
+2 letters: amanuenses, humaneness, manganeses, mannerless, meannesses. | |
+3 letters: animateness, encasements, encashments, humannesses, inseminates, manginesses, mangosteens, manlinesses, meaningless, menservants, mundaneness. | |
+4 letters: damnableness, enslavements, handsomeness, humanenesses, intimateness, maidenliness, manfulnesses, mannerliness, namelessness, randomnesses, reassignment. | |
+5 letters: amniocenteses, amniocentesis, amusingnesses, animatenesses, arsphenamines, demandingness, encompassment, estrangements, inanimateness, inhumannesses, mannishnesses, meaninglessly, melanogeneses, melanogenesis, mercenariness, misdemeanants, momentariness, mundanenesses, newsmagazines, normativeness, permanentness, reassignments, remonstrances, segmentations, underclassmen, unmanlinesses, womanlinesses. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Historic 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
