Meanings
comparative more spiteful · comparative rare spitefuller · superlative most spiteful · rare superlative spitefullest · alternative obsolete spightful · alternative obsolete spightfull · alternative obsolete spitefull
- Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm.
It's not like you killed someone It's not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side Talk to Jesus Christ as if he knows the reasons why He did it all for you
2000, “Judith”, performed by A Perfect CircleSynonyms: malignant, malicious, nasty, barbarous, bowelless, brutal, compassionless, cruel
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveFilled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveshowing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt; motivated by spite
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishspytefulle
- Englishspiteful
From Middle English spytefulle. By surface analysis, spite + -ful.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian зло́бен, злостен
- зло́бен (zlóben)filled with spite
- злостен (zlosten)filled with spite
Catalan maliciós, rancuniós
- maliciósfilled with spite
- rancuniósfilled with spite
Chinese Mandarin 刻毒
- 刻毒 (kèdú)filled with spite
Czech zlomyslný, škodolibý
- zlomyslnýfilled with spite
- škodolibýfilled with spite
- nenávistnýfilled with spite
- záštiplnýfilled with spite
Danish ondsindet, ondskabsfuld
- ondsindetfilled with spite
- ondskabsfuldfilled with spite
Dutch hatelijk, rancuneus
- hatelijkfilled with spite
- rancuneusfilled with spite
- onheusfilled with spite
French rancunier
- rancunierfilled with spite
German gehässig, boshaft
- gehässigfilled with spite
- boshaftfilled with spite
Hindi द्वेषी, अपकारी
- द्वेषी (dveṣī)filled with spite
- अपकारी (apkārī)filled with spite
Irish aiciseach, dúchroíoch
- aiciseachfilled with spite
- dúchroíochfilled with spite
Italian dispettoso, vendicativo
- dispettosofilled with spite
- vendicativofilled with spite
Japanese 悪意のある, 意地の悪い
- 悪意のある (akui no aru)filled with spite
- 意地の悪い (iji no warui)filled with spite
- 意地悪な (ijiwaru na)filled with spite
- 意地悪い (ijiwarui)filled with spite
Māori waniwani, turatura
- waniwanifilled with spite
- turaturafilled with spite
- kaikinofilled with spite
Polish złośliwy, robiący na złość
- złośliwyfilled with spite
- robiący na złośćfilled with spite
- wrednyfilled with spite
Portuguese malévolo, danoso
- malévolofilled with spite
- danosofilled with spite
- rancorosofilled with spite
Romanian malițios, răutăcios
- malițiosfilled with spite
- răutăciosfilled with spite
- ranchiunosfilled with spite
Russian зло́бный, злой
- зло́бный (zlóbnyj)filled with spite
- злой (zloj)filled with spite
- недоброжела́тельный (nedobroželátelʹnyj)filled with spite
- зло́стный (zlóstnyj)filled with spite
Spanish sañoso
- sañosofilled with spite
Swedish illvillig, ondskefull
- illvilligfilled with spite
- ondskefullfilled with spite
Ukrainian зло́бний
- зло́бний (zlóbnyj)filled with spite
Cite this entry
spiteful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiteful
“spiteful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiteful. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spiteful,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiteful.
Source: spiteful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.