as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
despiteful treatment of his poor relations during their visit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in disdain
open dislike for someone or something considered unworthy of one's concern or respect
the undisguised despitefulness with which the fashion designer announces his "10 worst" list
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despiteful
Adjective
-
This is the threat potential given commonalities despite seemingly different developers, and those links to malicious domains.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025 -
Mandiant found ads for over 30 such malicious websites; most were posted on Facebook but a handful of them appeared on LinkedIn.—
Jibin Joseph,
PC Magazine,
3 June 2025
Noun
-
Economists and pundits reacted to Trump’s warning with a mix of horror and haughty disdain.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
-
His mood wavers between disgust and disdain, and his people skills were not improved by nearly dying in an ambush that left one policeman dead and Morck’s partner, Detective Sergeant Hardy (Jamie Sives), in a wheelchair.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
But then perhaps that is her unsatisfying but depressingly undeniable point: there is no challenging minds this small, behaviors this cruel, spirits this mean.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
30 May 2025
-
The reason Evin is infamous is because of its terribly cruel high security detention centers that are poorly supervised by the Prison Chief.—
Jeff Kaufman,
Time,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
No one is more familiar than Walker with state government’s contempt for constitutional rights.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
24 May 2025
-
Epic then argued in court that Apple wasn’t complying with the order, and a judge ruled in Epic’s favor in April, holding Apple in civil contempt.—
John Yoon,
New York Times,
21 May 2025
Adjective
-
There are other objects of worship from the days when Japan’s Christians had to hide from vicious persecution, including a ceramic bottle of holy water from Nakaenoshima, an island where Hidden Christians were martyred in the 1620s.—
Foster Klug,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
-
Years before the Kendrick Lamar and Drake imbroglio, Pusha T shared his own vicious diss track against the Canadian hip-hop superstar.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
3 June 2025
Noun
-
No more tolerance of hatred, no more mercy for criminals.—
Sarah Beth Hensley,
ABC News,
28 May 2025
-
Antisemitism, hatred and terrorism must be stopped, lest our civilization fall into the abyss.—
Diane Gensler,
Baltimore Sun,
26 May 2025
Adjective
-
Of note: Your Content must not be false, defamatory, misleading or hateful, or infringe any copyright or any other third-party rights or otherwise be unlawful.—
Will Matsuda,
New York Times,
23 May 2025
-
The league is focused on four key areas: enhanced technological features to detect hateful comments online; increased emphasis on team, arena and league security measures; reinforcing mental health resources; and alignment of core against hate.—
Doug Feinberg,
Chicago Tribune,
18 May 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Despiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despiteful. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share