SPITE
What does "SPITE" mean?
A desire to hurt or annoy someone out of resentment.
Meanings
- Petty ill will or malice; a wish to harm or irritate another. He sold the house cheap, out of pure spite.
- To deliberately annoy or harm someone out of resentment. She kept the porch light on just to spite the neighbours.
- In the phrase 'in spite of': despite; regardless of. In spite of the rain, the parade went ahead.
Did you know?
- The vivid warning 'don't cut off your nose to spite your face' is centuries old - it captures spite's defining trap: harming yourself just to wound someone else.
Word origin
A shortened form of Middle English 'despit', from Old French 'despit' (contempt, malice), from Latin 'despectus' (a looking down on).
Remember it
SPITE is 'spit' plus an 'e' - and spite is basically the urge to spit at someone.
A little poem
He burned the bridge to spite the other side-
then stood alone, with nowhere left to ride.
couplet
Wordplay
- I planted thorns along the fence purely out of spite - now my own roses won't let me near them either.
What it teaches
Spite is a fire you light in your own house hoping the smoke drifts next door.
Quick facts
What does SPITE mean?
A desire to hurt or annoy someone out of resentment.
Is SPITE a valid word?
Yes — SPITE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SPITE?
SPITE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SPITE come from?
A shortened form of Middle English 'despit', from Old French 'despit' (contempt, malice), from Latin 'despectus' (a looking down on).
What can SPITE teach us?
Spite is a fire you light in your own house hoping the smoke drifts next door.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.