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View synonyms for

spite

[ spahyt ]

noun

  1. a malicious, usually petty, desire to harm, annoy, frustrate, or humiliate another person; bitter ill will; malice.

    Synonyms: , , , ,

  2. a particular instance of such an attitude or action; grudge.
  3. Obsolete. something that causes vexation; annoyance.


verb (used with object)

spited, spiting.
  1. to treat with spite or malice.
  2. to annoy or thwart, out of spite.
  3. to fill with spite; vex; offend.

spite

/ 貹ɪ /

noun

  1. maliciousness involving the desire to harm another; venomous ill will
  2. an instance of such malice; grudge
  3. archaic.
    something that induces vexation
  4. in spite of
    preposition in defiance of; regardless of; notwithstanding
“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

verb

  1. to annoy in order to vent spite
  2. archaic.
    to offend
“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
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Other Word Forms

  • 辱ٱl adjective
  • ܲ·辱Ļ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of spite1

1250–1300; Middle English; aphetic variant of despite
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Word History and Origins

Origin of spite1

C13: variant of despite
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. in spite of, in disregard or defiance of; notwithstanding; despite:

    She arrived at school on time in spite of the snowstorm.

  2. cut off one's nose to spite one's face. nose ( def 23 ).

More idioms and phrases containing spite

see in spite of .
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The greater Los Angeles office rental market started the year with a turbulent first quarter and historically high vacancies as tenant demand was persistently soft in spite of more robust return-to-office policies coming from managers.

From

It increasingly seems like our world is dominated by two types of leaders: those guided by gleeful, vindictive spite, and those guided by wherever the wind happens to be blowing that day.

From

He also became a writer out of spite.

From

To be joyful, to laugh, to stay quirky in spite of everything, is a supreme act of defiant survival.

From

In spite of a recent backlash, the rise of more inclusive YA has felt every bit as much like a seismic shift as “The Hunger Games” did back in the day.

From

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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.

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spit curlspite fence