Spiteful describes someone who is nasty on purpose, wanting to hurt or upset another person — and the key word is 'on purpose'. A spiteful act is not careless or thoughtless; the person chose it, and the hurting was the point.

Spiteful用來形容 describes someone who is nasty on purpose一個人故意使壞 wanting to hurt or upset another person想傷害或惹惱另一個人 and the key word is 'on purpose'關鍵就在「故意」這兩個字 A spiteful act一個spiteful的行為 is not careless or thoughtless不是不小心或沒想清楚 the person chose it是這個人自己選擇這麼做的 and the hurting was the point而傷害人正是他的目的

It is often small and mean rather than big and violent: telling a secret you promised to keep, saying the one sentence you know will land, leaving someone off the invitation list, breaking something the other person loved. That smallness is important — English speakers feel spiteful as a petty, low kind of nastiness, the sort that comes from wounded pride or old jealousy.

It is often small and mean它常常是小小的、卑劣的 rather than big and violent而不是大規模的暴力 telling a secret you promised to keep像是說出你答應要保密的秘密 saying the one sentence you know will land說出你明知會刺傷人的那句話 leaving someone off the invitation list把某人排除在邀請名單外 breaking something the other person loved弄壞對方心愛的東西 That smallness is important這種「小」很重要 English speakers feel spiteful as a petty, low kind of nastiness英語使用者會覺得spiteful是一種小心眼、低劣的惡意 the sort that comes from wounded pride or old jealousy那種來自受傷的自尊或舊有嫉妒心的惡意

So the word carries real disapproval; you are not just describing a person, you are judging them. It works on words, acts and people alike: a spiteful remark, a spiteful thing to do, a spiteful old neighbour.

So the word carries real disapproval所以這個字帶著真正的譴責意味 you are not just describing a person你不只是在描述一個人 you are judging them而是在評斷他 It works on words, acts and people alike它可以用在話語、行為，還有人身上 a spiteful remark像spiteful的一句話 a spiteful thing to do spiteful的一個舉動 a spiteful old neighbour或一個spiteful的老鄰居

There is a slight extra flavour worth knowing: spiteful often means the person is hurting themselves too, or gaining nothing, just so the other one suffers — 'she sold the house cheap out of spite'. Compare it with the plain noun spite, which is the feeling, and the phrase 'in spite of', which looks the same but means something completely different (= although).

There is a slight extra flavour worth knowing還有一個小地方值得知道 spiteful often means the person is hurting themselves too spiteful常常也表示這個人自己也會受損 or gaining nothing或什麼好處都沒得到 just so the other one suffers只是為了讓對方吃苦 — 'she sold the house cheap out of spite'像「她故意把房子賤賣，就是要讓對方難受」 Compare it with the plain noun spite可以拿它跟名詞spite比較 which is the feeling spite指的是那種情緒本身 and the phrase 'in spite of'還有片語'in spite of' which looks the same但看起來很像 but means something completely different卻是完全不同的意思 (= although)（等於「儘管」）