Meaning & use
mentality
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person's or group's usual way of thinking, which shapes how they act.
Grammar: Usually with an adjective: a winning mentality.
Patterns
- the mentality of someone
- a mentality of something
The team has a winning mentality.
He has a small-town mentality.
Her mentality is always to look for solutions.
noununcountableformalold-fashioned
The ability to think or the level of mental power.
Grammar: Used in a formal or old-fashioned way.
The test claimed to measure mentality.
He doubted her mentality.
Her mentality was sharp even at ninety.
Word forms
| plural | mentalities |
|---|
Common combinations
- winning mentality
- The coach built a winning mentality.
- herd mentality
- Herd mentality drove the price up.
- victim mentality
- He fell into a victim mentality.
- siege mentality
- The staff had a siege mentality.
- change your mentality
- You must change your mentality to improve.
- us-and-them mentality
- An us-and-them mentality hurt the team.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mindset
- Mindset is more modern and about attitude toward a goal, while mentality can describe a group culture.
- outlook
- Outlook is how you see the future or life, while mentality is how you think in general.
- attitude
- Attitude is how you feel about something specific, while mentality is a broader habit of thought.
- mind-set
- Mind-set is a spelling variant of mindset and means a fixed way of thinking.
Word family
Commonly confused: mentality or mentally? mentality or morality?
mentality vs mentally
Mentally is an adverb about the mind, while mentality is a noun for a way of thinking.
mentality vs morality
Morality is about right and wrong, while mentality is about habits of thought.
Practice
Fans said the coach had changed the team's ___ from fear of losing to belief in winning.
Choose one answer.
Mentality is the noun for a way of thinking. Mental is an adjective and mentally an adverb, so they do not fit after the.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mentality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.