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Synonyms

despiteful

American  
[dih-spahyt-fuhl] / dɪˈspaɪt fəl /

adjective

  1. malicious; spiteful.

  2. Obsolete. contemptuous; insolent.

despiteful British  
/ dɪˈspɪtɪəs, dɪˈspaɪtfʊl /

adjective

  1. an archaic word for spiteful

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of despiteful

1400–50; late Middle English. See despite, -ful

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Despiteful thus unto myself I languish, And in disdain myself from joy I banish.

From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)

IX, 79. which have been rendered as follows: Despiteful pedant, why dost me pursue, Thou head detested by the younger crew?

From Woman in Science With an Introductory Chapter on Woman's Long Struggle for Things of the Mind by Zahm, John Augustine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.