MEAN

adj. 1 stingy, miserly, tight, close, cheap, parsimonious, penurious, stinting, niggardly, penny-pinching, tight-fisted, close-fisted, mercenary, uncharitable, ungenerous, mean-spirited, unaccommodating, small, petty, Colloq near, money-grubbing, measly, Brit mingy He is far too mean to buy anyone a Christmas present It seems rather a mean contribution to the fund, given his wealth. 2 lowly, low, base, inferior, abject, menial, servile, degraded, degenerate, undignified, ignoble, plebeian, proletarian, modest, humble, common He rose to a position of great power in spite of his mean background 3 disgraceful, run-down, poor, sorry, miserable, scruffy, seedy, scurvy, shabby, squalid, wretched, vile, mangy, sordid, contemptible, dismal, dreary, abysmal They live in very mean circumstances 4 unkind, malicious, cruel, unaccommodating, disobliging It was very mean of you to steal that toy from the baby 5 cantankerous, churlish, nasty, hostile, ill-tempered, bad-tempered, sour, unpleasant That mean old lady would never even talk to us 6 excellent, wonderful, marvellous, great, exceptional, effective, skilful, skilled, Slang far-out, US bad The saxophonist in that combo is one mean cat