Full of or showing intense dislike, anger, or hostility toward someone or something.
Formed from 'hate' (Old English 'hete') with the suffix '-ful' (meaning full of, from Old English). The compound has been used since Middle English to describe things or people characterized by hatred.
What's fascinating is that 'hateful' can describe either the person feeling hate or the person being hated—a child might say 'that's a hateful thing to do' or 'he's being hateful,' showing how the word captures both the internal emotion and its external expression.
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