1
as in narrow
unwilling to grant other people social rights or to accept other viewpoints
a small-minded man only concerned with his own well-being
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
resented the small-minded people who automatically opposed every new idea
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of small-minded
Their small-minded nature is justified through closeness, but really, everyone seems miserable, with their connections to Judaism existing in social standing only.
—
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2024
Clearly, the two men are supposed to represent competing visions of Britishness: the one tolerant and outward-looking, drawing on the country’s rich heritage as a way to move the culture forward, the other entitled and small-minded, invested in the past only as a tool of propaganda.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
This latest incident is yet another example of Trump’s small-minded, black-and-white thinking that denotes a simple mind unable to comprehend or consider policies that exist in the gray areas of governing.
—Robin Epley, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
The customer base is more informed and to make small-minded temporary transactions based on the political climate is the wrong direction for any company.
—Rhett Buttle, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
The latter consist of several cartoon-like locals with high levels of bigotry and stupidity — the kind of small-minded, provincial Frenchmen and women featured in hit Gallic comedies like Serial Bad Weddings or the Tuche series.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2024
Once seen as a promising peacemaker and political reformer, Abbas has steadily devolved into an erratic and small-minded authoritarian with a virtually unbroken record of failure.
—Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 30 Aug. 2024
Some began noticing similar relics of a bygone time when unscripted television had to stick in a way to a small-minded script.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 31 July 2024
The film, based on Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel of the same name, centers on the sisters contending with their small-minded small town as well as a curse on the women of their bloodline, whose male partners are doomed to die prematurely.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2024
Clearly, the two men are supposed to represent competing visions of Britishness: the one tolerant and outward-looking, drawing on the country’s rich heritage as a way to move the culture forward, the other entitled and small-minded, invested in the past only as a tool of propaganda.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
This latest incident is yet another example of Trump’s small-minded, black-and-white thinking that denotes a simple mind unable to comprehend or consider policies that exist in the gray areas of governing.
—Robin Epley, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
The customer base is more informed and to make small-minded temporary transactions based on the political climate is the wrong direction for any company.
—Rhett Buttle, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
The latter consist of several cartoon-like locals with high levels of bigotry and stupidity — the kind of small-minded, provincial Frenchmen and women featured in hit Gallic comedies like Serial Bad Weddings or the Tuche series.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2024
Once seen as a promising peacemaker and political reformer, Abbas has steadily devolved into an erratic and small-minded authoritarian with a virtually unbroken record of failure.
—Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 30 Aug. 2024
Some began noticing similar relics of a bygone time when unscripted television had to stick in a way to a small-minded script.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 31 July 2024
The film, based on Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel of the same name, centers on the sisters contending with their small-minded small town as well as a curse on the women of their bloodline, whose male partners are doomed to die prematurely.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for small-minded
Adjective
-
The large table serves as the primary crafting area; the narrow wood desk is her workstation.—
Ella Field,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Jan. 2025
-
Think narrow sections with extra weight in the middle to give you more control for day-to-day styling at home.—
Fiona Embleton,
Glamour,
25 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Columbus Today Columbus is no longer the parochial, third-tier Midwestern city big dreamers must leave in order to fulfil their potential.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
-
But parochial political feuds and byzantine zoning codes have hampered LA’s efforts to get more new housing off the ground.—
Carly Stern,
Vox,
6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The provincial and constitutional courts ruled against them.—
Stephanie Yang,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2025
-
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other government ministers met with provincial premiers to discuss Trump's pledge to impose steep tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports after he is sworn in as president in January.—
Nia Williams and Ismail Shakil,
USA TODAY,
14 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Sitting in front of local leaders, Trump again wrongly blamed elements of the fire disaster on a lack of water resources coming from the Delta and environmental protections for the delta smelt, a small fish near extinction that has become a symbol of GOP frustration.—
Ari Plachta,
Sacramento Bee,
25 Jan. 2025
-
Imagine rewiring your belief in yourself even on a small stage, but in front of millions.—
Matthew Futterman,
The Athletic,
25 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
At City Hall, a handful of commenters also regularly deliver bigoted messages.—
Dakota Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2025
-
Get Into the Holiday Spirit by Watching Mariah Carey Bake Christmas Cookies Famous for its iconic title song, 9 to 5 follows Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as a trio of fiery secretaries who topple the tyranny of their sexist, bigoted boss (Dabney Coleman).—
Lauren Sanchez,
Vogue,
19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
But the smoke is still rising, and petty partisanship is a distraction and disservice at the moment, given all that’s been lost, and all the hard work of moving forward.—
Steve Lopez,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2025
-
In an era of steadily declining trust in media, the dry formalities of a legal template provide not only an imprimatur of institutional credibility, but also the freedom to go into extreme amounts of detail without seeming petty, tedious or self-indulgent.—
Eleanor Hawkins,
Axios,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Some people associate a frugal spender with a narrow-minded person who is a tightwad, a cheapskate, a penny-pincher, and worse of all an outright scrooge.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
18 Jan. 2025
-
People are going to take things and run with them and be narrow-minded or whatever or take something out of context.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
In that sense, the Rockies — often criticized for their insular, and routinely unsuccessful, baseball operation — were well ahead of the curve.—
Kyle Newman,
The Denver Post,
6 Jan. 2025
-
Often family businesses are so insular and stunted and hollow.—
Caroline Frost,
Deadline,
5 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to small-minded
Thesaurus Entries Near small-minded
Cite this Entry
“Small-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/small-minded. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share