malicious

adjective

ma·li·cious mə-ˈli-shəs

Synonyms of malicious next

: 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.

Example Sentences

… 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 Under Oklahoma law, there is no specific hate crime statute, but malicious intimidation or harassment includes targeting someone based on their race. —

Peter Aitken, Fox News, 17 May 2023 The schemes are launched by duping users into sharing their credentials or allowing access to systems by malicious links. —

Laura Crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2023 While not infected with a cybernetic virus, recently arrested Massachusetts Air National Guard airman Jack Teixeira shows the damage that can occur when a trusted employee has malicious intent or becomes co-opted and inflicts significant damage on an employer. —

Richard Forno, Fortune, 12 May 2023 Scott Eric Anderson, 43, and Paul New, 55, both of Fresno, were charged with conspiracy to destroy by means of an explosive device and malicious destruction, federal prosecutors announced. —

Joel Umanzor, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 May 2023 And malicious actors found easy targets in a number of states, including New York, which had relaxed some of its oversight measures in a bid to process a rush of claims more quickly, local auditors determined last year. —

Tony Romm, Anchorage Daily News, 11 May 2023 The complaint accuses the county and the sheriff's department gross negligence, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, civil assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and other offenses. —

USA TODAY, 11 May 2023 Far-reaching access Intel Boot Guard is built into modern Intel hardware and is designed to prevent the loading of malicious firmware usually in the form of a UEFI bootkit. —

Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 11 May 2023 Tolson said that Mullinax had active arrest warrants through the York Police Department for a violent felony and malicious injury to personal property. —

Dianne Gallagher, CNN, 10 May 2023 See More

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.