noun

spite

spite, malice, ill will

He did it out of spite.

He did it out of spite.

She felt a lot of spite towards her ex-boss.

She felt a lot of spite towards her ex-boss.

out of spite from a desire to hurt or annoy someone He did it out of spite.

Synonyms: malice, ill will, malevolence; Antonyms: goodwill, kindness

From Old French 'despit' (contempt), from Latin 'despectus'. It's related to 'despite', both carrying a sense of opposition.

Think of the phrase 'in spite of'. While 'in spite of' means 'despite', 'spite' itself is the feeling of wanting to annoy or hurt someone.

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