hateful

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparabledisapproving

   Showing or expressing strong hatred toward others.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: hateful words, his remarks were hateful.

   Patterns

   • hateful speech
   • be hateful to someone

   The comments section was full of hateful messages.

   He gave a hateful speech about his neighbors.

   She was ashamed of the hateful things she said in anger.

2. 2adjectivecomparableold-fashioned

   Extremely unpleasant or horrible, so that people dislike it intensely.

   Grammar: Often used with a person or task you cannot stand.

   Patterns

   • hateful to someone
   • a hateful task

   Cleaning the oven is a hateful job.

   The cold, hateful weather lasted all winter.

   He found the whole affair hateful.

Word forms

Common combinations

hateful remarks

The club banned him for hateful remarks online.

hateful speech

Hateful speech can lead to real harm.

hateful act

Police called the attack a hateful act.

hateful look

She gave him a hateful look across the table.

hateful to someone

Such cruelty is hateful to me.

Synonyms and how they differ

spiteful

Spiteful suggests a petty wish to hurt someone, while hateful is stronger and suggests deep hatred.

odious

Odious is more formal and means deeply disgusting, not necessarily full of hatred.

hostile

Hostile describes an unfriendly or aggressive attitude, whereas hateful stresses hatred itself.

vile

Vile means very bad or disgusting, and it need not involve any feeling of hatred.

Opposites

Word family

hate verb

to dislike intensely

hatred noun

intense dislike

hatefully adverb

in a way full of hate

hatefulness noun

the quality of being hateful

Commonly confused: hateful or hated?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “hateful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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