as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
cut down their neighbors' tree out of sheer spitefulness
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spitefulness
Noun
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Portrayed throughout the season as an unholy fool of sorts, free of malice and premeditation and utterly harmless once properly medicated, Ed redeems himself to a certain extent.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025 -
Understand that controlling behaviors may stem from fear and insecurity rather than malice.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Spiders have venom to subdue prey, but the majority have fangs that are too tiny to puncture human skin.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
11 Oct. 2025
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Luckily the snake did not inject any venom.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Historically, political movements die when they become subsumed by paranoid Jew-hatred.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
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This isn’t quite like other rivalries, such as the Iron Bowl or Georgia-Georgia Tech, where coaches motivate their players by talking up their hatred of the other team.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Also on Sunday, Jacqueline’s aunt, Jackelyn Garcia, 28, was arrested and charged with intentional cruelty to a child under the age of 19, risk of injury to a child and first-degree unlawful restraint.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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Other scary asylum stories highlighted a fear of institutional cruelty — of authority figures with total power over vulnerable patients.—
Jen Rose Smith,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The Giants didn’t finish with an 81-81 record because of Melvin or in spite of him.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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The housing authority's board later renominated Lowe in spite of the earlier denial, a move that put the decision on a successor in the hands of the Board of Directors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Spitefulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spitefulness. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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