mean streak

English

Noun

mean streak (plural mean streaks)

(idiomatic) A defect in character characterized by persistent nastiness, viciousness, or malevolence.
- 1911, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Crux, ch. 1:
  "He's worse than mischievous," Mr. Lane assured her sourly. "There's a mean streak in that family."
- 1993 May 14, Janet Maslin, "Film: A Western in the Hands of a Revisionist," New York Times (retrieved 14 Sept 2017):
  The film's considerable taste for graphic, noisy violence becomes clear during this tumultuous opening. So does its mean streak, as the Colonel delivers outrageous insults to one and all.
- 2016 March 10, Paul Hayward, "Sport: Eddie Jones takes England siege mentality to the extreme ," Telegraph (UK) (retrieved 14 Sept 2017):
  England’s combative coach . . . wants aggression, a touch of the outlaw, a mean streak.

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