spiteful

English

Alternative forms

• spightful, spightfull, spitefull (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English spytefulle. By surface analysis, spite +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

spiteful (comparative more spiteful or (rare) spitefuller, superlative most spiteful or (rare) spitefullest)

1. Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm.

   Synonyms: malignant, malicious

   • 2000, “Judith”, performed by A Perfect Circle:

     It's not like you killed someone
     It's not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side
     Talk to Jesus Christ as if he knows the reasons why
     He did it all for you

Translations

filled with spite

• Azerbaijani: kinli
• Belarusian: зло́сны (zlósny), зласлі́вы (zlaslívy)
• Bulgarian: зло́бен (bg) (zlóben), злостен (bg) (zlosten)
• Catalan: maliciós (ca), rancuniós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刻毒 (zh) (kèdú)

• Czech: zlomyslný (cs), škodolibý (cs), nenávistný (cs), záštiplný (cs)
• Danish: ondsindet, ondskabsfuld
• Dutch: hatelijk (nl), rancuneus (nl), onheus (nl)
• French: rancunier (fr)
• German: gehässig (de), boshaft (de)
• Irish: aiciseach, dúchroíoch
• Italian: dispettoso (it), vendicativo (it)
• Japanese: 悪意のある (あくいのある, akui no aru), 意地の悪い (いじのわるい, iji no warui), 意地悪な (ja) (いじわるな, ijiwaru na), 意地悪い (いじわるい, ijiwarui)
• Maori: waniwani, turatura, kaikino
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: аяр (ajar)

• Polish: złośliwy (pl), robiący na złość, wredny (pl)
• Portuguese: malévolo (pt), danoso (pt), rancoroso (pt) m
• Romanian: malițios (ro), răutăcios (ro), ranchiunos (ro)
• Russian: зло́бный (ru) (zlóbnyj), злой (ru) (zloj), недоброжела́тельный (ru) (nedobroželátelʹnyj), зло́стный (ru) (zlóstnyj)
• Spanish: malévolo (es), rencoroso, venenoso (es)
• Swedish: illvillig (sv), ondskefull (sv)
• Ukrainian: зло́бний (zlóbnyj)

Further reading

• “spiteful”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “spiteful”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.