hateful
Americanadjective
-
arousing hate or deserving to be hated.
the hateful oppression of dictators.
- Antonyms:
- praiseworthy, commendable, agreeable, likable
-
unpleasant; dislikable; distasteful.
She found her domestic chores hateful.
-
full of or expressing hate malignant; malevolent.
a hateful denunciatory speech.
adjective
-
causing or deserving hate; loathsome; detestable
-
full of or showing hate
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; see origin at hate, -ful
Explanation
Anything hateful has something to do with strong feelings of dislike, whether it's saying something hateful about a person you despise or the hateful practices of a country's oppressive government. Use the adjective hateful for things that deserve hatred (like racist speech or injustice) or are full of hatred (like the hateful things you mutter about your brother under your breath). We can trace hateful back to the Old English hete, "hatred, spite, or malice." Its earliest meaning was simply "full of hate," and by the late 1500s the definition expanded to "exciting hate."
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.
Kimmel also appeared to invite Trump onto his show to discuss "hateful" rhetoric -- an apparent reference to the president's inflammatory comments about groups including migrants, political opponents and the media.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
The University of Queensland said in a statement to the BBC that Chun's comments were "abhorrent and hateful to the innocent victims of the attack".
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
“Campy, openly and equally hateful and opportunistic, and above all, shameless.”
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026
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 • Feb. 22, 2026
Sandy’s crying now, and I don’t know if it’s because of me, or if it’s because of everything else in this world that’s unfair and hateful.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
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.
