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Spite Common

Spite has 6 different meanings across 3 categories:

Noun · Verb · Prep

Definitions
Noun
1

feeling a need to see others suffer

"He sabotaged his rival's project purely out of spite, enjoying the thought that it would fail and hurt them deeply."

2

malevolence by virtue of being malicious or spiteful or nasty

"She threw his broken watch into the trash out of pure spite because she knew he cherished it more than anything else."

3

Ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the desire to irritate, annoy, or thwart; a want to disturb or put out another; mild malice

"She deliberately forgot his birthday not because she didn't care, but simply to spite him and see if he would notice her absence."

In plain English: Spite is doing something just to make someone else angry or upset, even if it hurts you too.

"She did that just to spite him and make him unhappy."

Usage: Use "spite" as an uncountable noun when referring to ill will intended specifically to cause annoyance rather than deep hatred, such as in the phrase "out of spite." It often describes actions taken not for personal gain but purely to upset someone else.

Verb
1

hurt the feelings of

"She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests"

"This remark really bruised my ego"

2

To treat maliciously; to try to hurt or thwart.

"She refused to speak to him in spite just because he had won the game."

In plain English: To act spitefully means to do something just to hurt someone else because you are angry at them.

"He refused to help me out of spite."

Prep
1

Notwithstanding; despite.

"Spite of his broken leg, he managed to finish the marathon race."

Example Sentences
"She did that just to spite him and make him unhappy." noun
"He did it out of spite to make his brother jealous." noun
"She worked extra hard just to spite her critics." noun
"There was no malice in his words, only a hint of spite." noun
"He refused to help me out of spite." verb
See Also
spites rancor malicious thwart spitelessly notwithstanding annoy despite
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
malevolence arouse
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
diss lacerate sting humiliate

Origin

The word "spite" comes from the Middle English despit, which was borrowed from Old French and originally meant looking down on someone with contempt. It entered modern usage as a shortened form of that phrase to describe feelings of ill will or revenge.

Rhyming Words
ite hite kite qite wite lite bite fite mite vite yite site nite dite gite rite cite elite smite quite
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