malicious
adjective
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Malicious, Malevolent, and Malice
Malicious and malevolent are close in meaning, since both refer to ill will that desires to see someone else suffer. But while malevolent suggests deep and lasting dislike, malicious usually means petty and spiteful. Malicious gossipers are often simply envious of a neighbor's good fortune. Vandals may take malicious pleasure in destroying and defacing property but usually don't truly hate the owners. Malice is an important legal concept, which has to be proved in order to convict someone of certain crimes such as first-degree murder.
Examples of malicious in a Sentence
Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review, 5 Nov. 2000
A cunning and malicious crook who suckered him without half trying.
—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
Frank sensed her discomfort and took a certain malicious pleasure in it, enacting all the while his perfect innocence.
—John Updike, The Afterlife, 1994
a malicious distortion of the truth
the neighborhood chatterbox has again been spreading malicious gossip
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
This growth includes the expansion of distribution centers, attack surfaces, and opportunities for malicious actors.
—Leeza Garber, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
By 2028, Gartner predicts, 25% of enterprise breaches will be traced back to AI agents, including abuse from both internal and external malicious actors.
—Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2025
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Cite this Entry
“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malicious. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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malicious
adjective
Legal Definition
malicious
adjective
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