as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the novel grossly oversimplified the conflict as a struggle between relentlessly malevolent villains on one side and faultless saints on the other
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Recent Examples of malevolent
The 2025 Carolinas Climate Summit in uptown joins climate experts and folks working in their neighborhoods to combat the malevolent effects of the weather for a daylong series of panel discussions open to everyone.
—
Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2025
In the comics, Bob Reynolds/Sentry has a split personality and his other persona is that of The Void, a malevolent villain.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025
Last seen on Broadway in the excellent 2019 solo one-acts Sea Wall/A Life, Gyllenhaal bounds, loose-limbed and bursting with malevolent energy, onto the Barrymore stage and barely takes a breath for the next nearly three hours.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2025
And what was the House Un-American Activities Committee but one big, malevolent exercise in gossip-mongering?
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2025
In the comics, Bob Reynolds/Sentry has a split personality and his other persona is that of The Void, a malevolent villain.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025
Last seen on Broadway in the excellent 2019 solo one-acts Sea Wall/A Life, Gyllenhaal bounds, loose-limbed and bursting with malevolent energy, onto the Barrymore stage and barely takes a breath for the next nearly three hours.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2025
And what was the House Un-American Activities Committee but one big, malevolent exercise in gossip-mongering?
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malevolent
Adjective
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These attacks work by causing a software package to access the wrong component dependency, for instance by publishing a malicious package and giving it the same name as the legitimate one but with a later version stamp.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
29 Apr. 2025
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Sandhagen dispatched Edgar with a vicious flying knee 28 seconds into that bout.—
Trent Reinsmith,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
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With two hits, one hit-by-pitch and zero outs recorded, Williams then left the mound to a vicious chorus of boos as Aaron Boone summoned Mark Leiter Jr. — not Weaver — from the bullpen.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But this is the cruel and unreasonable state of this Administration's deportation policy.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Apr. 2025
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Such evidence could support the view that incessant loud noise amounts to torture or cruel treatment towards cetaceans, in turn galvanizing support for a new right to be free from such harm.—
David Gruber,
Time,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The antisemitic charge is a slur in its own right, tainting a broad range of institutions with a single hateful brush.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
New York Daily News,
14 Apr. 2025
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Prater, a graduate student in her first season with the Bulldogs, appeared to disable her comment section on some of her Instagram posts after facing an influx of hateful messages following the devastating injury Watkins suffered in the first half of their second round game.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malevolent. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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