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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despiteful
Adjective
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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
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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
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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
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The author presents a vicious takedown of George Washington.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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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
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Cite this Entry
“Despiteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despiteful. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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