Meanly

//ˈmiːnli// adv

adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Humbly, of or from low social status; basely.

    "Iphicrates and Marius were meanly born."

  2. 2
    Poorly or inadequately.
  3. 3
    In a mean manner; ill-willed, nastily.

    "He meanly refused to ever make a charitable donation."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a miserly manner wordnet
  2. 2
    poorly or in an inferior manner wordnet
  3. 3
    in a despicable, ignoble manner wordnet
  4. 4
    in a nasty ill-tempered manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
nastilyscurvilyabjectlyabominablyarrantlyatrociously

Example

More examples

"The guards at the palace gate were asked if they had not seen a princess go out, and they replied they had seen nobody go out but a young girl, very meanly dressed, and who had more the air of a poor country girl than of a young lady."

Etymology

From Middle English meneli, meneliche, equivalent to mean + -ly.

Related phrases

ill willed

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.