The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spite \Spite\, n. [Abbreviated fr. despite.]
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Ill-will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart; petty malice; grudge; rancor; despite.
--Pope.This is the deadly spite that angers.
--Shak. -
Vexation; chargrin; mortification. [R.]
--Shak.In spite of, or Spite of, in opposition to all efforts of; in defiance or contempt of; notwithstanding. ``Continuing, spite of pain, to use a knee after it had been slightly injured.''
--H. Spenser. ``And saved me in spite of the world, the devil, and myself.''
--South. ``In spite of all applications, the patient grew worse every day.''
--Arbuthnot. See Syn. under Notwithstanding.To owe one a spite, to entertain a mean hatred for him.
Syn: Pique, rancor; malevolence; grudge.
Usage: Spite, Malice. Malice has more reference to the disposition, and spite to the manifestation of it in words and actions. It is, therefore, meaner than malice, thought not always more criminal. `` Malice . . . is more frequently employed to express the dispositions of inferior minds to execute every purpose of mischief within the more limited circle of their abilities.''
--Cogan. ``Consider eke, that spite availeth naught.''
--Wyatt. See Pique.