Meaning & use
out of spite
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Done because you want to hurt, annoy or get back at someone, not because it helps you.
Grammar: Usually comes after the verb and describes the motive: she did it out of spite.
Patterns
- do something out of spite
- act out of spite
He deleted the shared file out of spite after the argument.
She refused to sell the house to her neighbor out of spite.
I suspect they raised the price out of spite.
Common combinations
- do it out of spite
- I think he only did it out of spite.
- act out of spite
- Don't act out of spite when you are angry.
- say something out of spite
- She said it out of spite and regretted it later.
- cancel out of spite
- They canceled the party out of spite.
- purely out of spite
- He refused to help purely out of spite.
Synonyms and how they differ
- out of malice
- Out of malice is more serious and suggests real ill will, while out of spite often sounds petty.
- out of revenge
- Out of revenge suggests payback for a specific wrong, whereas spite is more about wanting to annoy.
- vindictively
- Vindictively is an adverb that describes an unforgiving manner, while out of spite names the motive.
Opposites
Word family
- spite noun
- a desire to hurt or annoy someone
- spiteful adjective
- full of spite
- spitefully adverb
- in a spiteful way
- despite preposition
- without being affected by
Commonly confused: out of spite or in spite of?
out of spite vs in spite of
In spite of means despite something, while out of spite names the motive of wanting to hurt someone.
Practice
She didn't need the old chair, but she kept it just ___ so her brother couldn't have it.
Choose one answer.
Out of spite names the motive of annoying someone. In spite of and despite mean regardless of something, which changes the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “out of spite”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.