as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the girl's classmates were bullying her online, sending her hateful e-mails and text messages
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of hateful
One person's hateful actions should not negatively impact the way our community views the rest of our staff.
—
Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 19 Dec. 2025
But there’s something distinctly uncomfortable, even obscene, about so much hateful scrutiny of a character who is likely to be seen as like the author’s son.
—Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
For others — including many Republicans — the word is a hateful slur that causes real harm to real people.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 15 Dec. 2025
Sure, this strategy went down in spectacular flames when said trans star turned out to have a long history of posting hateful messages (and lost).
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hateful
Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 19 Dec. 2025
But there’s something distinctly uncomfortable, even obscene, about so much hateful scrutiny of a character who is likely to be seen as like the author’s son.
—Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
For others — including many Republicans — the word is a hateful slur that causes real harm to real people.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 15 Dec. 2025
Sure, this strategy went down in spectacular flames when said trans star turned out to have a long history of posting hateful messages (and lost).
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hateful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hateful
Adjective
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
-
And at the heart of the series was the parasitic dynamic between Pine and his delightfully malicious foe, an arms dealer named Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie).—
Emily Zemler,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Officials charged Damon Leanord of Pleasanton, Kansas, with interference with law enforcement, having a vicious dog at large and criminal desecration of a body in Linn County and abandonment of a corpse charges in Bates County, Missouri, after finding the child’s body at the bottom of a creek bed.—
Sofi Zeman
January 6,
Kansas City Star,
6 Jan. 2026
-
He was shocked in 2013 when he was struck by vicious bouts of vomiting.—
Robert McCoppin,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The forest had taught him that city dwellers could often be regulated by cruel and rather unpredictable codes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
-
That Maduro is a cruel dictator is clear; that Trump intends more than just his arrest (such as taking their oil) is equally clear.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The growth of passive investing, through index funds found in the 401(k) accounts of average Americans, has propped up the stock market while also potentially setting it up for a nasty fall.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Instead of this stuff that's raised overseas that's done in ways that doesn't have any checks, that it's got polluted water, it's being fed really nasty stuff, full of antibiotics, full of chemicals.—
Dan Morrison,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hateful. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share