resentful

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rɪˈzɛntfəl/ UK /rɪˈzɛntfʊl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
feeling bitter indignation at unfair or hurtful treatment

He grew resentful of his brother's constant praise from their parents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · feeling bitter indignation... bitter indignantaggrievedembitteredrancorous vindictive grudging

Opposites

content grateful forgiving satisfied

Word family

Forms resentfullyunresentful

Derived forms resentfullyresentfulness

Related forms resent resentment sentiment sense

Etymology

From resent + -ful. Resent derives from French ressentir ('to feel strongly'), from re- (intensive) + sentir ('to feel'), from Latin sentire ('to feel, perceive').

sentire Latin *sent- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# resentful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈzɛntfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈzɛntfʊl/

## Meanings
1. feeling bitter indignation at unfair or hurtful treatment

## Examples
- He grew resentful of his brother's constant praise from their parents.

## Synonyms
- bitter
- indignant
- aggrieved
- embittered
- rancorous
- vindictive
- grudging

## Antonyms
- content
- grateful
- forgiving
- satisfied

## Derived Forms
- resentfully
- resentfulness

## Related Forms
- resent
- resentment
- sentiment
- sense

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sentire
- Root: *sent-

## Etymology
From resent + -ful. Resent derives from French ressentir ('to feel strongly'), from re- (intensive) + sentir ('to feel'), from Latin sentire ('to feel, perceive').

## AI Etymology
Resentful comes from resent + -ful. Resent derives from French ressentir ('to feel strongly'), from re- (intensive) + sentir ('to feel'), from Latin sentire ('to feel, perceive'). The historical chain includes Latin sentire and Proto-Indo-European *sent-. Older glosses in the chain include "to feel strongly", "to feel", and "to feel, perceive", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, resentful is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "feeling bitter indignation at unfair or hurtful treatment". English derivatives include resentfully and resentfulness; related forms include resent, resentment, sentiment, and sense. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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