despiteful

adjective

di-ˈspīt-fəl How to pronounce despiteful (audio)
Definition of despitefulnext
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

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for despiteful
  1. malicious
  2. cruel
  3. vicious
  4. hateful
Adjective
  • While conceding that standard phishing methods, those that typically require threat actors to craft malicious emails that are delivered to a wide audience, are relatively easy for email platforms to detect and block, that’s not the case with this phishless attack.
    Davey Winder, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025
  • Alec Baldwin sues New Mexico, claiming malicious prosecution.
    Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Definition of malicious
Adjective
  • Shahana Goswami plays the lead role of a widow who lands the job of a cop due to life’s cruel twists.
    Sweta Kaushal, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
  • In a cruel irony, revelers had gathered to welcome a new beginning.
    Matthew Continetti, National Review, 4 Jan. 2025
Definition of cruel
Adjective
  • Several fast-growing wildfires fueled by a vicious Southern California wind storm are devastating communities across the Los Angeles region, with homes being burned to the ground and tens of thousands of people evacuating to safety.
    Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
  • That’s when Evans, in a full sprint, blindsided Lattimore with a vicious hit in the back and knocked him to the ground.
    Rick Stroud, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
Definition of vicious
Adjective
  • There’s no legal argument to be made against this turn away from fact-checking and towards a more freewheeling, more disinformation-laden, more confusing, more hateful and less illuminating approach.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2025
  • With Zuckerberg’s decision to rescind policies barring hateful speech, he’s made clear that distinction is worth the possibility of political clout come Inauguration Day.
    Makena Kelly, WIRED, 9 Jan. 2025
Definition of hateful
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near despiteful

despite

despiteful

despitefully

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Despiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despiteful. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Top 12 Sophisticated Compliments

Word of the Year 2024 | Polarization

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
white rubber duck stands out in a row of yellow ducks
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.