Showing a desire to hurt or humiliate someone out of anger or malice; deliberately mean and hurtful.
From 'spite' (from Old French 'despit' meaning 'contempt') plus the suffix '-ful' meaning 'full of.' The word has meant maliciously hurtful since medieval times.
Psychologists have found that spiteful behavior actually hurts the spiteful person's own brain—the satisfaction of revenge lasts only seconds, but the stress hormones can linger for hours!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.