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Opposition vs Spite - What's the difference?

opposition | spite | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between opposition and spite

is that opposition is the action of opposing or of being in conflict while spite is ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart; a desire to vex or injure; petty malice; grudge; rancor.

As a verb spite is

to treat maliciously; to try to injure or thwart.

As a preposition spite is

notwithstanding; despite.

opposition

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The action of opposing or of being in conflict.
  • An opposite or contrasting position.
  • An opponent in some form of competition.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition .}}
  • (astronomy) The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth.
  • (senseid)(politics) A political party or movement opposed to the party or government in power.
  • (legal) In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent.
  • (chess) A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king.
  • Antonyms

    * apposition

    spite

    English

    Etymology 1

    From a shortening of (etyl) despit, from (etyl) despit (whence despite). Compare also Dutch spijt.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart; a desire to vex or injure; petty malice; grudge; rancor.
  • He was so filled with spite for his ex-wife, he could not hold down a job.
    They did it just for spite .
  • * Shakespeare
  • This is the deadly spite that angers.
  • (obsolete) Vexation; chagrin; mortification.
  • "The time is out of joint: O cursed spite." Shakespeare, Hamlet

    Verb

    (spit)
  • To treat maliciously; to try to injure or thwart.
  • She soon married again, to spite her ex-husband.
  • (obsolete) To be angry at; to hate.
  • The Danes, then pagans, spited places of religion. — Fuller.
  • To fill with spite; to offend; to vex.
  • Darius, spited at the Magi, endeavoured to abolish not only their learning, but their language. — Sir. W. Temple.

    See also

    * malignant * malicious

    Etymology 2

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Notwithstanding; despite.
  • Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * ----