crab mentality

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Behavior where individuals undermine others' success out of jealousy

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Hành vi phá hoại thành công của người khác vì ghen tị

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: crabs pulling each other down in a bucket
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The team's crab mentality hindered their ability to work together effectively

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “crab mentality” mean?

Behavior where individuals undermine others' success out of jealousy Literally: crabs pulling each other down in a bucket

Is “crab mentality” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.