as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the gossip would utter the most vicious things with a spiteful smile
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spiteful
Several diss tracks followed, with the musicians hurling increasingly spiteful insults at each other relating to accusations of domestic abuse, exploitation and pedophilia.
—
Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2025
The more spiteful Drake could smell a world of buff, misogynistic grifters taking hold and made sure to set up shop where the audience would be.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
But when he’s presumed dead after a tragic run-in with a pirate ship, our heroine is forced to take up with the spiteful Prince Humperdink—that is, until a masked man in black jumps in to save her.
—Gia Yetikyel, Vogue, 24 Jan. 2025
Biden’s mean-spirited, spiteful actions are only more reasons for Americans to vote Republican in future elections.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiteful
Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2025
The more spiteful Drake could smell a world of buff, misogynistic grifters taking hold and made sure to set up shop where the audience would be.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
But when he’s presumed dead after a tragic run-in with a pirate ship, our heroine is forced to take up with the spiteful Prince Humperdink—that is, until a masked man in black jumps in to save her.
—Gia Yetikyel, Vogue, 24 Jan. 2025
Biden’s mean-spirited, spiteful actions are only more reasons for Americans to vote Republican in future elections.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiteful
Adjective
-
Deepfakes have been growing more sophisticated in recent years, in addition to being increasingly deployed for malicious purposes.—
Shannon Bond,
NPR,
10 July 2025
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Politics remains a cruel business and the governor has been on the frontline of it for nearly 20 years, winning and losing.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
5 July 2025
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They were joined by actors playing the contestants, who lurched along wearing expressions of exaggerated horror, as though the cruel stakes of the game had just been revealed to them.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Adjective
-
The author presents a vicious takedown of George Washington.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
-
Stanton, demonstrating that there’s still plenty of power in his vicious swing, sent the pitch 401 feet the other way at 106.1 mph.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Hoxton Grove Estate is shrouded in bad vibes, from Jess’s fighting neighbors — a group of women who have been, by turns, loving and hateful toward each other all season, their intensity coming to a head when one of them is seduced by the other’s boyfriend — to Felix’s lethargy.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
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Being a private equity venture, Substack directly profits from its creators, hateful and hopeful alike.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Her somewhat implausible problem is that her bad feelings—her irritation, her boredom—never register as such because of her beauty, her wealth, and her pedigree; so great is her beauty that even her nastiest moods feel like a sunny glow to others.—
Claire Jarvis,
New Yorker,
8 July 2025
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But use kind humor, not nasty or deprecating humor.—
Davia Temin,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiteful. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
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