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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Recent Examples of spiteful
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
Share [Findings] Unaffiliated voters are growing more spiteful toward both Democrats and Republicans.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 22 Jan. 2025
Iannucci may spin stories of spiteful people, but Iannucci the person is different.
—John Baldoni, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiteful
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
Share [Findings] Unaffiliated voters are growing more spiteful toward both Democrats and Republicans.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 22 Jan. 2025
Iannucci may spin stories of spiteful people, but Iannucci the person is different.
—John Baldoni, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spiteful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiteful
Adjective
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Implement web filtering to restrict access to known malicious websites.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
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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,
16 June 2025
Adjective
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What is a totalitarian leader other than an individualist taking that creed to its cruel conclusions, erasing the uniqueness of every other person into mere characters in a drama?—
Ed Simon
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 2025
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That first leg ended 1-0 — a slim aggregate lead — and in the second leg back on Kiwi soil, the Australians won 2-0 with one of their goals a cruel deflection.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
21 June 2025
Adjective
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The Republican tax bill could push food assistance in Colorado into a vicious cycle of funding cuts, increasing mistakes in determining eligibility and further funding cuts to punish those mistakes, Gov. Jared Polis warned in a letter to congressional leaders Friday.—
Meg Wingerter,
Denver Post,
16 June 2025
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Plaschke delivers a vicious uppercut to his opponent.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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Wilcox’s attorney, Bryant Scriven, told the Orlando Sentinel his client was a disabled military veteran who is neither a violent nor a hateful person.—
Silas Morgan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 June 2025
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This hateful message emboldened the audience to boo when graduates in Jewish Studies and Hebrew were called to the stage.—
Isabella Brannon,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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And some erratic vibrations were detected at points last week as the stark outperformance of year-to-date laggards over the top 2025 performers prompted some comparisons to the nasty momentum-stock reversal of February and March that upset the market well before the tariff panic.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
14 June 2025
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But while Burns appeared to solve Oakmont for the day, some players who performed well on Thursday got eaten alive by the nasty course on Friday.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiteful. Accessed 28 Jun. 2025.
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