Link Centre Dictionary

spite

UK/spaɪt/ US/ˈspaɪt/ fairly common
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.
2.

verb

1.

hurt the feelings of

  • “She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests”
  • “This remark really bruised me ego”
Synonyms

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”).

Phrases

  • cut off one's nose to spite one's face
  • Hamiltonian spite
  • in spite of
  • in spite of oneself
  • in spite of someone's teeth
  • spite fence
  • spite house
  • spite wall

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.