Definition of MALICIOUS

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

Displaying homophobic messaging in his videos would seem to put Crowder in clear violation of YouTube’s policy against malicious bullying. — Aja Romano, Vox, "YouTube may allow hate speech if it’s part of a larger argument. Yikes.," 6 June 2019 Russian agents targeted state and local elections officials using VR Systems products with malicious emails. — NBC News, "Feds to test North Carolina election computers for signs of Russian hacking," 5 June 2019 Yes, ECUs so equipped will brick themselves if malicious code is introduced into theirs—but that’s separate from tuning efforts. — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "The 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette's Engine Computer is Tuner-Resistant? We Think Not," 30 May 2019 If ShadowHammer allowed the PC to download malicious BIOS software from another site, that software could take over the entire PC. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Update: Asus issues fix for ShadowHammer attack, and a tool to detect if your PC was affected," 26 Mar. 2019 An Australian cyberdefense agency official said the hackers had used malicious computer software, or malware, as well as techniques not seen previously that have since been shared with allies. — Rob Taylor, WSJ, "Iranian Group Blamed for Cyberattack on Australia’s Parliament," 21 Feb. 2019 Certain sensitive information is housed within a virtual machine offering some protection from malicious software even if the operating system is compromised. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Windows 10 to get disposable sandboxes for dodgy apps," 9 Aug. 2018 Second, the defendants hacked into computer networks and installed malicious software that allowed them to spy on users and capture keystrokes, take screenshots, and exfiltrate or remove data from those computers. — Jen Kirby, Vox, "Rod Rosenstein announces Russian indictments: “Blame for election interference belongs to the criminals”," 13 July 2018 The Ringer also points out that Cleganebowl would not only be a service to fans, but also a testament of how much The Hound has evolved as a character since his more malicious days in Season 1. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Game of Thrones Season 8: 18 Fan Theories to Know," 18 Mar. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'malicious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.