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
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, FOXNews.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Time to update: Apple has discovered hackers exploiting an iOS bug via malicious media files.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
There was an interface exposed to the public internet, potentially allowing malicious actors access to their systems.
—Jenna McLaughlin, NPR, 15 Apr. 2025
Perhaps less so if zero-day vulnerabilities are being sought for sale to the Russian government, or those skills are being used for purely malicious purposes.
—Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 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 24 Apr. 2025.
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malicious
adjective
Legal Definition
malicious
adjective
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