spiteful
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
Spiteful, revengeful, vindictive refer to a desire to inflict a wrong or injury on someone, usually in return for one received. Spiteful implies a mean or malicious desire for (often petty) revenge: a spiteful attitude toward a former friend. Revengeful implies a deep, powerful, and continued intent to repay a wrong: a fierce and revengeful spirit. Vindictive does not imply action necessarily, but stresses the unforgiving nature of the avenger: a vindictive look.
Other Word Forms
- spitefully adverb
- spitefulness noun
- unspiteful adjective
- unspitefully adverb
Etymology
Origin of spiteful
A late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; spite, -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.
Smith, booed to the crease by the travelling fans, edged to second slip, then Khawaja gloved a spiteful lifter.
From BBC
One writer noted there was “no great compliment involved in having this spiteful looking object for a namesake.”
From Los Angeles Times
Over the next several years, Tidmarsh sent a series of spiteful messages to Tang and his business associates, the lawsuit said.
In an interview with the Guardian, she described the policy as "spiteful," adding it had "punished and pushed children into hardship".
From BBC
Swansea Crown Court previously heard, due to inflation, the sum stolen by the "greedy and spiteful" Hills was now worth about £65,000.
From BBC
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.
