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Definition of "small-minded" [small-minded]

  • Having a narrow or selfish attitude. (adjective)
  • Characterized by pettiness or selfishness. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "small-minded" in a sentence
  • "Now that the campaign surge of Pennsylvania's "favorite son," Rick Santorum, keeper of public "morality," has turned media attention to the culture wars, it behooves us to consider what kind of social devastation small-minded culture warriors can precipitate in America."
  • "For many, fantasy is typified by The Lord of the Rings; Miéville worked up a righteous fury against Tolkien's "cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos", calling him "the wen on the arse of fantasy literature" and setting out to "lance the boil"."
  • "Are our lives so small that this is who we become in our darkened dens, computer screens glowing, as we read about people we perceive to be more glamorous, with more privilege or power, more opportunity, that we must make ourselves feel better about ourselves by posting insipid, mean and small-minded comments on a website?"
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