"meaner" in the adjective sense
1. average, mean
approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value
"the average income in New England is below that of the nation"
"of average height for his age"
"the mean annual rainfall"
2. hateful, mean
characterized by malice
"a hateful thing to do"
"in a mean mood"
3. base, mean, meanspirited
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"
4. mean
excellent
"famous for a mean backhand"
5. beggarly, mean
marked by poverty befitting a beggar
"a beggarly existence in the slums"
"a mean hut"
6. mean, mingy, miserly, tight
used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
"a mean person"
"he left a miserly tip"
7. beggarly, mean
used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt
8. bastardly, mean
of no value or worth
"I was caught in the bastardly traffic"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License