Small-minded

Focuses narrowly on petty concerns and shows limited generosity or breadth of perspective.

A practical definition of Small-minded: Focuses narrowly on petty concerns and shows limited generosity or breadth of perspective. Everyday expression: Obsesses over status, minor offenses, or local advantage and struggles to consider larger principles, context, or other people’s needs. Context for Small-minded: Its real significance depends on frequency, intensity, circumstances, and effects on decisions, responsibilities, relationships, or personal well-being. Similar traits for Small-minded: petty, narrow-minded, spiteful — close concepts that share part of the meaning of Small-minded without being exact synonyms. Opposite traits for Small-minded: broad-minded, magnanimous, generous — alternative qualities that make the distinctive direction of Small-minded easier to recognize. As a generally negative pattern, Small-minded becomes most concerning when it is repeated, difficult to regulate, and harmful to relationships, decisions, responsibilities, or personal functioning. A fair reading of Small-minded comes from repeated evidence across situations, not one moment, and should leave room for context, learning, and changes in behavior over time.