resentful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of resentful
Explanation
If you are resentful of someone, you feel ill will toward him, mixed with envy, like when a newer coworker gets the promotion you've been working toward for years. The verb resent comes from the word for "feeling," but we only use it to talk about bad, stinging feelings. You might resent having to work late, but if your boss pays you a higher wage for overtime, maybe you’ll be less resentful. When there are clear inequalities among people, it often makes them resentful. Someone who wears themselves out doing heavy labor might be resentful of their boss who never breaks a sweat but earns more money.
Vocabulary lists containing resentful
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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The Breadwinner
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 3
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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.
And, sometimes, when people feel unhappy or resentful, rather than look at their own choices, they look for people to blame.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Halpern is more self-aware than he lets on as becomes clear when analyzing his baseball journey — when he quit he admits he felt resentful.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
“It’s easy to get almost angry or resentful that it influenced so much every step of the way.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
In this picture I am despondent, resentful, rageful.
From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026
At first these responses caused disappointment; maybe people were resentful, even, like he’d let them down.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
