as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the gossip would utter the most vicious things with a spiteful smile
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Recent Examples of spiteful
Several diss tracks followed, with the musicians hurling increasingly spiteful insults at each other relating to accusations of domestic abuse, exploitation and pedophilia.
—
Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
They were clouded by an entire era of underperformance, tough luck and spiteful ownership.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
Being consumed by negative emotions like envy or engaging in spiteful behavior does nobody any good.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Played by a sniveling Casey Siemaszko, Billy is spineless and spiteful.
—Sezin Devi Koehler September 1, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiteful
Adjective
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
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And at the heart of the series was the parasitic dynamic between Pine and his delightfully malicious foe, an arms dealer named Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie).—
Adjective
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The forest had taught him that city dwellers could often be regulated by cruel and rather unpredictable codes.—
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That Maduro is a cruel dictator is clear; that Trump intends more than just his arrest (such as taking their oil) is equally clear.—
Adjective
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Officials charged Damon Leanord of Pleasanton, Kansas, with interference with law enforcement, having a vicious dog at large and criminal desecration of a body in Linn County and abandonment of a corpse charges in Bates County, Missouri, after finding the child’s body at the bottom of a creek bed.—
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He was shocked in 2013 when he was struck by vicious bouts of vomiting.—
Adjective
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Thompson, meanwhile, savors every contemptuous glare and hateful retort Anna regularly supplies.—
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At best, both Labour and the Conservatives have spent political capital on an activist who has repeatedly expressed thoughtless and hateful views in public.—
Adjective
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The growth of passive investing, through index funds found in the 401(k) accounts of average Americans, has propped up the stock market while also potentially setting it up for a nasty fall.—
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Instead of this stuff that's raised overseas that's done in ways that doesn't have any checks, that it's got polluted water, it's being fed really nasty stuff, full of antibiotics, full of chemicals.—
Cite this Entry
“Spiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiteful. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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