spite

American  

[spahyt] / spaɪt /

noun

1. a malicious, usually petty, desire to harm, annoy, frustrate, or humiliate another person; bitter ill will; malice.

   Synonyms:

   spleen, venom, rancor, maliciousness, malevolence

2. a particular instance of such an attitude or action; grudge.

3. Obsolete. something that causes vexation; annoyance.

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verb (used with object)

spited, spiting

1. to treat with spite or malice.

2. to annoy or thwart, out of spite.

3. to fill with spite; vex; offend.

idioms

1. in spite of, in disregard or defiance of; notwithstanding; despite.

   She arrived at school on time in spite of the snowstorm.

2. cut off one's nose to spite one's face. nose.

spite British  

/ spaɪt /

noun

1. maliciousness involving the desire to harm another; venomous ill will

2. an instance of such malice; grudge

3. archaic something that induces vexation

4. (preposition) in defiance of; regardless of; notwithstanding

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verb

1. to annoy in order to vent spite

2. archaic to offend

spite More Idioms  

1. see in spite of.

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Related Words

See grudge. See notwithstanding.

Other Word Forms

• spiteless adjective
• unspited adjective

Etymology

Origin of spite

1250–1300; Middle English; aphetic variant of despite

Example Sentences

The midfielder has excelled from a personal perspective in spite of Forest's struggles this season.

From BBC

Betsie’s graduation from secondary school in spite of the months missed with illness.

From Literature

Lloyd was interested in spite of himself as Charlie strolled into the crick, following a line.

From Literature

“In spite of all that, we’ve begun to make progress. Look here at our neighborhood.”

From Literature

In spite of all this I need to tell him what happened with Mr. Dannenberg.

From Literature