Describes a feeling of discomfort or unpleasantness, often with a nuance of something being emotionally or physically disagreeable. Used as a na-adjective or noun.
彼の態度はむねわるだった。
His attitude was unpleasant.
むねわるな話を聞いて気分が悪くなった。
I felt sick after hearing that unpleasant story.
mean; mean person
Archaic use referring to a mean-spirited person or the quality of being mean. Not used in modern Japanese; replaced by words like 意地悪 (いじわる).
In old documents, there are examples where 'mune waru' is used as a word for a mean person.
Compound of 胸 (むね, 'chest, heart') and 悪 (わる, 'bad'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it likely originated as a colloquial expression for a bad feeling in one's chest, later extending to mean 'unpleasant' and, archaically, 'mean'.