The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word ILL-NATURED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
L
L
-
N
A
T
U
R
E
D
More clues leading to the result ILL-NATURED
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Spiteful" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case spiteful = ill-natured.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ILL-NATURED mean?
ILL-NATURED adjective- Having a bad nature, whether