spiteful
/ˈspaɪtfʊl/adjective
spiteful is spelled S-P-I-T-E-F-U-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, spiteful means “Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spiteful?
| Letters | 8: S-P-I-T-E-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,974th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spiteful?
Spiteful appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spiteful?
- /ˈspaɪtfʊl/
Spiteful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-spiteful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spiteful
- more spiteful comparative
- spitefuller comparative, rare
- most spiteful superlative
- spitefullest rare, superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spiteful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to annoy or harm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spiteful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense filled with spite:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rancunier |
| German | gehässig, boshaft |
| Portuguese | malévolo, danoso, rancoroso |
| Spanish | sañoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spiteful come from?
From Middle English spytefulle. By surface analysis, spite + -ful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).