Meaning
- Mentality means a person’s way of thinking or their general attitude or mindset. It reflects how someone typically approaches problems, decisions, or life in general.
Grammar and Usage
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Part of speech: noun (countable or uncountable)
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Typical patterns:
- someone’s mentality – “his mentality,” “the team’s mentality”
- a winning / victim / growth mentality
- mentality toward (something) – “her mentality toward work”
It often expresses habitual or cultural ways of thinking, sometimes with positive or negative nuance.
Common Phrases
- Winning mentality – a mindset focused on success and improvement.
- Defeatist mentality – a way of thinking that expects failure.
- Growth mentality – believing one can develop abilities through effort.
- Old-fashioned mentality – traditional or outdated thinking.
- Team mentality – thinking collectively for the group’s success.
Collocations
- adopt / develop / change / shift / have / build + mentality
- positive / negative / open / rigid / competitive + mentality
Examples
- He has a positive mentality that helps him overcome challenges.
- The team’s winning mentality led them to victory.
- Changing your mentality can completely transform your results.
- She criticized the company’s outdated mentality.
- A growth mentality encourages continuous learning.
- They need to build a team mentality to succeed.
- His defeatist mentality prevents him from taking new opportunities.
- The teacher praised the students’ hardworking mentality.
- You can’t solve new problems with an old mentality.
- A flexible mentality is essential in today’s world.
Synonyms or Related
- mindset
- attitude
- outlook
- way of thinking
- frame of mind
Antonym
- close-mindedness
- rigidity
- defeatism