spite

1 of 2

noun

ˈspīt 

1

: petty ill will or hatred with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart

2

: an instance of spite

spite

2 of 2

verb

spited; spiting

transitive verb

1

a

: annoy, offend

b

: to fill with spite

2

: to treat maliciously (as by shaming or thwarting)

Phrases

in spite of

: in defiance or contempt of : without being prevented by

succeeded in spite of their opposition

Synonyms

Noun

• malice
• venom
• hatred
• cruelty

Verb

• annoy
• bother
• irritate
• bug
• persecute
• aggravate
• anger

Choose the Right Synonym for spite

malice, malevolence, ill will, spite, malignity, spleen, grudge mean the desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress.

malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer.

felt no malice toward their former enemies

malevolence suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct.

a look of dark malevolence

ill will implies a feeling of antipathy of limited duration.

ill will provoked by a careless remark

spite implies petty feelings of envy and resentment that are often expressed in small harassments.

petty insults inspired by spite

malignity implies deep passion and relentlessness.

a life consumed by motiveless malignity

spleen suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice.

venting his spleen against politicians

grudge implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction.

never one to harbor a grudge

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

Noun

In spite of SSDs capturing market share due to speed and efficiency, their higher cost per terabyte continues to make HDDs indispensable for large-scale storage. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025

The rally reflects growing investor confidence in the chipmaker’s dominance in artificial intelligence, in spite of export restrictions to China. —Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 26 June 2025

Verb

Arundhati began her acceptance speech by addressing him directly, despite—or to spite—the miles and the walls of prisons between them: My greetings to you, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, writer of courage and my fellow awardee. —Margaret Busby june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025

Joyce, who had been dead for 18 years, vividly inhabited its chapters, getting drunk, going blind, spending money, spiting enemies, cogitating, and, of course, creating a series of works that immediately made literary history. —Eric Bulson, The Atlantic, 16 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, short for despite

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing spite

• cut off one's nose to spite one's face
• in spite of oneself

Rhymes for spite

• bight
• bite
• blight
• byte
• cite
• dight
• fight
• fite
• flight
• fright
• height
• hight

Kids Definition

spite

1 of 2 noun

ˈspīt 

: dislike or hatred for another person with a wish to torment, anger, or defeat

spite

2 of 2 verb

spited; spiting

: annoy, offend

did it to spite me