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)
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
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 11 July 2025
California is the fourth-largest economy in the world not in spite of immigrants, but because of their contributions not only as a workforce, but as consumers and as entrepreneurs.
—Amanda Castro
billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for spite
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Noun
In spite of difficulties at the festival, Dulac was able to lure prestigious guests to the event over the years, notably Keanu Reeves, Donald Sutherland, Agnès Varda, Brady Corbet, Ari Aster, Lily Gladstone, Joel Edgerton, Ira Sachs and Ben Winshaw.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 11 July 2025
California is the fourth-largest economy in the world not in spite of immigrants, but because of their contributions not only as a workforce, but as consumers and as entrepreneurs.
—Amanda Castro
billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 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
See All Example Sentences for spite
Cite this Entry
“Spite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spite. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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