hateful

adjective

ˈhāt-fəl How to pronounce hateful (audio)
Definition of hatefulnext
as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it the girl's classmates were bullying her online, sending her hateful e-mails and text messages

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hateful Online trolls posting hateful comments on social media don't establish how the crowd at Gainbridge behaves. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026 In her final interview of the season, Clark denounced the hateful messages Mitchell says she's received on social media and urged the soon-to-be free agent to stay with the Indiana Fever for one more season. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026 The apology was met with a lukewarm reaction from a public that had watched the rapper’s troubling antics and hateful statements for years. — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026 But others, including civil rights attorney Connie Rice, say the latest scandal proves that the LAPD’s problems run deeper than the hateful actions of a few individuals. — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hateful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hateful
  1. malicious
  2. vicious
  3. cruel
  4. nasty
Adjective
  • Moreover, the perpetrators do not appear to have used malicious code on the fridge controllers, potentially complicating efforts to track down who carried out the cyberattack, added Aimé.
    — Sana Noor Haq, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The best way to protect yourself from malicious links that install malware and potentially access your private information is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of malicious
Adjective
  • So too, the possibility of Rollerball-style carnage carnivals where robots compete in vicious cage matches until only one android is still moving.
    — Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Cash reserves totaling $ 7,450,869 are being used to eviscerate his opponent with a vicious barrage of ad hominem assaults, thus giving him a 61 to 1 spending edge.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of vicious
Adjective
  • In response to legislation to end the cruelty once and for all, the Daily News once again trotted out its old and tired defense of this cruel, deadly and outdated industry.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Policing cringe is the cruelest métier of the internet—the origin of harassment campaigns and platforming of contempt.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruel
Adjective
  • The polls still show a close-range contest, but in the increasingly nasty ad war, the spending suggests a far more lopsided fight.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Officers then cuffed the youngster as he was loaded into an ambulance and hospitalized for a fractured femur and a nasty bruise on his head, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the teen’s dad, Mahmoud Saleh, in Brooklyn Federal Court.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of nasty

Browse Nearby Words

hated
hateful
hatefully
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Cite this Entry

“Hateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hateful. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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