Meanspirited

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  meanspirited \mean"spir`it*ed\, mean-spirited
  \mean"-spir`it*ed\, a.
     1. Of a mean spirit; petty; small-minded; base; groveling; --
        of people. -- {Mean"-spir`it*ed*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. Done for malevolent reasons; -- of deeds and actions.
  
     Syn: base, contemptible, currish, mean, meanspirited, scurvy.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  meanspirited
       adj 1: lacking in magnanimity; "it seems ungenerous to end this
              review of a splendid work of scholarship on a critical
              note"- Times Litt. Sup.; "a meanspirited man unwilling
              to forgive" [syn: {ungenerous}] [ant: {generous}]
       2: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality;
          "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a
          base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage";
          "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare;
          "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in
          politics" [syn: {base}, {mean}]