mean
verb · adjective · noun
Simple meaning
To intend for a given purpose or fate.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
meenIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmin
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitiveusually in passive
To intend (something) for a given purpose or fate; to predestine.
transitive
To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention.
transitive
To intend an ensuing comment or statement as an explanation.
Intend to refer to
intransitive
To have as intentions of a given kind.
transitive
To convey (a given sense); to signify, or indicate (an object or idea).
adjective
Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby.
Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base.
Of little value or worth; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.
Intending to cause harm, successfully or otherwise; bearing ill will towards another.
Having the mean (see noun below) as its value; average.
chiefly uk
Ungenerous; stingy; tight-fisted.
noun
Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To intend (something) for a given purpose or fate; to predestine.
Used this way, mean is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mean
- “My ex-husband means nothing to me.”verb
- “The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end.
The message that is intended or expressed or signified.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Time based on the motion of the mean sun (an imaginary sun moving uniformly along the celestial equator).
Time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis.
A theoretical sun that moves along the celestial equator at a constant speed and completes its annual course in the same amount of time the real sun takes at variable speeds.
An average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n.
Time based on the motion of the mean sun (an imaginary sun moving uniformly along the celestial equator).
The arithmetic mean of the maximum and minimum distances of a celestial body (satellite or secondary star) from its primary.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Having a meaning or purpose.
Having no meaning or direction or purpose.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: low in quality or degree
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.