Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

spite

/spaɪt/ noun

Latin root: dēspectum Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about spite at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Feeling a need to see others suffer.
Malevolence by virtue of being malicious or spiteful or nasty.

verb

Hurt the feelings of.
She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests

Origin

From Middle English spit, a shortening of despit (whence despite), from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from Latin dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). Compare also North Frisian spīt, spīd (“regret”), Saterland Frisian Spiet (“regret, remorse”), West Frisian spyt (“regret”), Dutch spijt (“regret, remorse”), German Low German Spiet (“anger, regret, remorse”), German Spiet (“annoyance, vexation”), Swedish spit (“insult, outrage, annoyance”), Norwegian spit (“insult, outrage, annoyance”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word