malicious

adjective

ma·​li·​cious mə-ˈli-shəs How to pronounce malicious (audio)
: having or showing a desire to cause harm to someone : given to, marked by, or arising from malice
malicious gossip
maliciously adverb
maliciousness noun

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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

… she is an inspired hater, and thrills to malicious descriptions of long-forgotten, nameless individuals whose bad luck it was to live near her, or to have met her socially. 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
Recent Examples on the Web He was charged with felony malicious injury to property, the outlets reported. Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024 High-resolution image generator Stable Diffusion, developed by startup Stability AI, is claimed to have more than 10 million users and has guardrails installed to prevent explicit image creation and policies barring malicious use. Lydia Morrish, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024 And then there’s Apple, which appears to be engaging in outright malicious compliance, leaving European developers at a disadvantage. Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 6 Mar. 2024 An integrated, technical cyber defense that combines exceptional data security and data management helps ensure organizations run optimally in line with business goals and protects their most valuable assets from malicious actors and misuse. Brian Spanswick, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 The United Nations’ Office of Counter-Terrorism has found these types of malicious campaigns are supported monetarily in North Korea which in turn finances their nuclear weapons program. Gene Marks, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 Co-defendant Chance Brannon, 24, of San Juan Capistrano, pleaded guilty Nov. 30 to conspiracy, malicious destruction of property by fire and explosive, possession of an unauthorized destructive device and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility. City News Service, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024 The malicious ransomware variant has been deployed by criminal hackers to extort tens of millions of dollars from victims around the world — ranging from global banks to local schools. Leo Sands, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2024 Ransomware is a type of cybercrime in which hackers use malicious software to encrypt a network of computers, usually belonging to a business or critical service, and demand a cryptocurrency payment for a promise to fix the problem. Kevin Collier, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'malicious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see malice

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of malicious was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near malicious

Cite this Entry

“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malicious. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

malicious

adjective
ma·​li·​cious mə-ˈlish-əs How to pronounce malicious (audio)
1
: doing mean things for pleasure
2
: done just to be mean
malicious gossip
maliciously adverb
maliciousness noun

Legal Definition

malicious

adjective
ma·​li·​cious mə-ˈli-shəs How to pronounce malicious (audio)
: given to, marked by, or arising from malice
malicious destruction of property
maliciously adverb
maliciousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on malicious

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