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Spiteful vs Cruel - What's the difference?

spiteful | cruel |

Cruel is a synonym of spiteful.



As adjectives the difference between spiteful and cruel

is that spiteful is filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to vex, annoy, or injure; malignant; malicious while cruel is not nice; mean; heartless.

As a verb cruel is

to spoil or ruin (one's chance of success.

spiteful

English

(Webster 1913)

Alternative forms

* spightful (obsolete) * spightfull (obsolete) * spitefull (archaic)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Filled with, or showing, spite; having a desire to vex, annoy, or injure; malignant; malicious

    • External links

    * *

    cruel

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Not nice; mean; heartless.
    • The supervisor was very cruel to Josh, as he would always give Josh the hardest, most degrading work he could find.
  • (slang) Cool; awesome; neat.

    • Synonyms

    * brutal * sadistic * vicious

    Antonyms

    * merciful

    Derived terms

    * cruelly

    Related terms

    * crude * crudeness * cruelty

    Verb

  • To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)

    • External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * * ----