as in curse
a prayer that harm will come to someone
the two old women began casting aspersions and heaping maledictions upon one another
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Recent Examples of malediction
Whatever the reason—gold lust, bad luck, a malediction—the Prince de Conty continues to bring ill fortune upon those in its ambit, even two hundred and seventy-eight years after its demise.
—
Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
What’s more, Presence imbues the song with a story centered around death, misfortune, and perhaps even malediction.
—Spin Contributor, SPIN, 11 Mar. 2024
Without faith, youth is open more to destructive secular influences similar to fatherless children being open to the maledictions of gangs rather than the counsels found in a loving and caring and attentive two-parent home.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 27 Feb. 2024
Despite this Sisyphean malediction, with each call for new proposals, the community still tries to push its boulder back to the mountaintop.
—Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 2 June 2021
But perhaps the malediction presently heaped upon them will give them pause in the future.
—Winston Groom, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2018
Their language seemed perfectly suited for songs and maledictions.
—Linda Kinstler, Longreads, 27 June 2018
Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
What’s more, Presence imbues the song with a story centered around death, misfortune, and perhaps even malediction.
—Spin Contributor, SPIN, 11 Mar. 2024
Without faith, youth is open more to destructive secular influences similar to fatherless children being open to the maledictions of gangs rather than the counsels found in a loving and caring and attentive two-parent home.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 27 Feb. 2024
Despite this Sisyphean malediction, with each call for new proposals, the community still tries to push its boulder back to the mountaintop.
—Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 2 June 2021
But perhaps the malediction presently heaped upon them will give them pause in the future.
—Winston Groom, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2018
Their language seemed perfectly suited for songs and maledictions.
—Linda Kinstler, Longreads, 27 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malediction
curse
Noun
-
With the launch of the Culling Game in the aftermath, 10 colonies from across Japan are transformed into dens of curses as part of a plot orchestrated by the most wicked sorcerer in history, Noritoshi Kamo.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Her goal helped the club secure its first berth in the NWSL playoffs, snapping a ninth-place curse that had haunted the team since its debut in 2021.—
Tamerra Griffin,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malediction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malediction. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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