1
: petty ill will or hatred with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart
2
: an instance of spite
spited; spiting
2
: to treat maliciously (as by shaming or thwarting)
Synonyms
Examples of spite in a Sentence
Noun
He is jealous and full of spite.
spread cruel lies out of pure spite
Verb
He only did it to spite me.
sometimes, I swear, she keeps doing that just to spite me
Recent Examples on the Web
Rory Smith, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, in spite of its accomplishments, the crusade launched by Bergh, Angell, and their peers remains unfinished.
—Ben Goldfarb, The Atlantic, 18 Apr. 2024
In spite of what Assemblyman Evan Low and Rep. Ro Khanna seem to think, recounts, such as the one that started Monday, are a vital part of our democracy.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Ser declined to release him, in spite of the safety concerns raised in court.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Wigner theorized that this quantum phase of electrons would occur due to the particles’ mutual repulsion, not in spite of it.
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 12 Apr. 2024
The resolution claims We Energies failed to take sufficient action to prevent outages in spite of resident and city requests to do so.
—Claudia Levens, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2024
In spite of all the challenges Israel faces, there is cause for optimism, especially stemming from the strength of Israeli civil society.
—Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
In spite of their fraught histories with museums, some Native nations have embraced and changed museology.
—Kathleen Duval, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
Christina Goldbaum, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024
Like Flock, Motz is interested in the lore of female vengeance: Judith beheading Holofernes, Medea killing her sons to spite Jason, Clytemnestra stabbing Agamemnon in the bath.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
The highest-grossing film in Warner Bros.’ history, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, took her place on the list, right under American Fiction, Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut about a Black novelist who writes a stereotypical book to spite the industry.
—Vulture, 7 Dec. 2023
Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: The city essentially cut off their nose to spite their face.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Nov. 2023
Doug always detested Reggie and only ended up the owner of the sweet pup to spite his ex-girlfriend, who loved the dog but learned to hate the two-timing Doug.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
Forte plays Doug, who doesn’t want Reggie (voice of Will Ferrell), only keeping him to spite his ex.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 17 Aug. 2023
The most short-sighted aspect of the mini-rooms, however, is how blatantly the studios are cutting off their nose to spite their own faces.
—Zack Arnold, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 June 2023
There are legitimate concerns for sure, but giving up on a 26-year-old talent who is just entering his athletic prime smacks of an old Irish warning my mother used to tell us Sullivan siblings: Don’t bite off your nose to spite your face.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 1 June 2023
Noun
Over the next few weeks, in spite of the defeat to Real Madrid, Manchester City will most likely record yet another double, claim yet another piece of history, set yet another high bar.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Ultimately, in spite of its accomplishments, the crusade launched by Bergh, Angell, and their peers remains unfinished.
—Ben Goldfarb, The Atlantic, 18 Apr. 2024
In spite of what Assemblyman Evan Low and Rep. Ro Khanna seem to think, recounts, such as the one that started Monday, are a vital part of our democracy.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Ser declined to release him, in spite of the safety concerns raised in court.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Wigner theorized that this quantum phase of electrons would occur due to the particles’ mutual repulsion, not in spite of it.
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 12 Apr. 2024
The resolution claims We Energies failed to take sufficient action to prevent outages in spite of resident and city requests to do so.
—Claudia Levens, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2024
In spite of all the challenges Israel faces, there is cause for optimism, especially stemming from the strength of Israeli civil society.
—Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
In spite of their fraught histories with museums, some Native nations have embraced and changed museology.
—Kathleen Duval, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
Verb
Arrests and intimidation of military veterans and those in the country’s elite who backed Mr. Khan only seemed to isolate the military from one of its key support bases and drive voters to cast ballots just to spite the generals.
—Christina Goldbaum, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024
Like Flock, Motz is interested in the lore of female vengeance: Judith beheading Holofernes, Medea killing her sons to spite Jason, Clytemnestra stabbing Agamemnon in the bath.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
The highest-grossing film in Warner Bros.’ history, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, took her place on the list, right under American Fiction, Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut about a Black novelist who writes a stereotypical book to spite the industry.
—Vulture, 7 Dec. 2023
Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: The city essentially cut off their nose to spite their face.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Nov. 2023
Doug always detested Reggie and only ended up the owner of the sweet pup to spite his ex-girlfriend, who loved the dog but learned to hate the two-timing Doug.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
Forte plays Doug, who doesn’t want Reggie (voice of Will Ferrell), only keeping him to spite his ex.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 17 Aug. 2023
The most short-sighted aspect of the mini-rooms, however, is how blatantly the studios are cutting off their nose to spite their own faces.
—Zack Arnold, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 June 2023
There are legitimate concerns for sure, but giving up on a 26-year-old talent who is just entering his athletic prime smacks of an old Irish warning my mother used to tell us Sullivan siblings: Don’t bite off your nose to spite your face.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 1 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spite.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near spite
Cite this Entry
“Spite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spite. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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