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Synonyms

hateful

American  
[heyt-fuhl] / ˈheɪt fəl /

adjective

  1. arousing hate or deserving to be hated.

    the hateful oppression of dictators.

    Synonyms:
    loathsome, invidious, repugnant, abhorrent, execrable, abominable
    Antonyms:
    praiseworthy, commendable, agreeable, likable
  2. unpleasant; dislikable; distasteful.

    She found her domestic chores hateful.

  3. full of or expressing hate malignant; malevolent.

    a hateful denunciatory speech.


hateful British  
/ ˈheɪtfʊl /

adjective

  1. causing or deserving hate; loathsome; detestable

  2. full of or showing hate

"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

Related Words

Hateful, obnoxious, odious, offensive refer to something that causes strong dislike or annoyance. Hateful implies actually causing hatred or extremely strong dislike: The sight of him is hateful to me. Obnoxious emphasizes causing annoyance or discomfort by objectionable qualities: His persistence made him seem obnoxious. His piggish manners made him obnoxious to his companions. Odious emphasizes the disagreeable or displeasing: an odious little man; odious servility. Offensive emphasizes the distaste and resentment caused by something that may be either displeasing or insulting: an offensive odor, remark.

Other Word Forms

  • hatefully adverb
  • hatefulness noun
  • unhateful adjective

Etymology

Origin of hateful

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; hate, -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.

Coventry said at a news conference last week that the IOC has a safeguarding unit that monitors the organization’s social media platforms for hateful messages.

From Los Angeles Times

And when users found her ode to being excited for the weekend, they showered the teenager with hateful comments.

From Salon

As well as the ban, Sanchez pledged to change Spanish law to make the chief executives of tech platforms "face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal or hateful content".

From Barron's

But as an adult, Thorne sees him as a complicated boy, "he is as loving as he is hateful".

From BBC

At the time, Adidas said in a statement that the rapper’s remarks were “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous,” and Gap described them as “inexcusable.”

From The Wall Street Journal