spite
noun /spaɪt/
/spaɪt/
[uncountable]Idioms - a feeling of wanting to hurt or upset somebody synonym malice
- out of spite I'm sure he only said it out of spite.
Extra Examples- He vented his spite on his grandfather.
- I felt no spite towards her.
- She killed her boss's dog out of pure spite.
- She was angry and full of spite.
- This was her final act of spite.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- pure
- sheer
- personal
- …
- be full of
- feel
- vent
- …
- out of spite
- with spite
- spite towards/toward
- …
Word OriginMiddle English: shortening of Old French despit ‘contempt’, despiter ‘show contempt for’.
Idioms
in spite of something
- if you say that somebody did something in spite of a fact, you mean it is surprising that that fact did not prevent them from doing it synonym despite
- In spite of his age, he still leads an active life.
- They went swimming in spite of all the danger signs.
- English became the official language for business in spite of the fact that the population was largely Chinese.
Language Bank howeverhoweverWays of saying ‘but’- Politicians have promised to improve road safety. So far, however, little has been achieved.
- Despite clear evidence from road safety studies, no new measures have been introduced.
- Politicians have promised to improve road safety. In spite of this/Despite this, little has been achieved so far.
- Although politicians have promised to improve road safety, little has been achieved so far.
- Some politicians claim that the new transport policy has been a success. In fact, it has been a total disaster.
- Government campaigns have had a measure of success, but the fact remains that large numbers of accidents are still caused by careless drivers.
in spite of yourself
- if you do something in spite of yourself, you do it although you did not intend or expect to
- He fell asleep, in spite of himself.
- In spite of herself, tears welled up in her eyes.