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definitions

spiteful

[spahyt-fuhl]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spiteful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

full of spite or malice; showing spite; malicious; malevolent; venomous: a spiteful child.

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RELATED WORDS

spite, enmity, meanness, malignancy, indignity, malice, evil, malignity, maliciousness, hatred, hate, grudge, vengefulness, resentment, cruelty, retaliation, revenge, mercilessness

Origin of spiteful

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at spite, -ful
Related formsspite·ful·ly, adverbspite·ful·ness, nounun·spite·ful, adjectiveun·spite·ful·ly, adverb

Synonyms for spiteful

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spiteful ON THESAURUS.COM
vengeful, mean, cruel, rancorous. 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.

Antonyms for spiteful

benevolent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spitefulness

Historical Examples of spitefulness

  • He regretted the spitefulness that had led him to write in another name than hers because she had refused to support him.

  • So the day passed, with endless ill-natured jesting and spitefulness.

    Pelle the Conqueror, Complete

    Martin Anderson Nexo

  • It is the essence of spitefulness to say that nothing can be a benefit which does not cause some inconvenience to the giver.

  • He merely visited his humiliation on her, and found her beauty spoiled by her spitefulness.

    A Man's Hearth

    Eleanor M. Ingram

  • A cat, in all languages, has been the symbol of deceit and spitefulness, and she is more fit for an ash barrel than a pulpit.

    Around The Tea-Table

    T. De Witt Talmage

British Dictionary definitions for spitefulness

spiteful

adjective

full of or motivated by spite; vindictive
Derived Formsspitefully, adverbspitefulness, noun
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
Word Origin and History for spitefulness

spiteful

adj.

mid-15c., from spite + -ful. Related: Spitefully; spitefulness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper