as in vicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the neighborhood chatterbox has again been spreading malicious gossip
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of malicious
With that, an attacker can, among other things, hack multi-tenant systems, break out of containers based on Kubernetes or other frameworks, and create malicious pull requests that pipe the exploit code through CI/CD work flows.
—
Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2026
LLMs judge whether a request is malicious by reading the request itself.
—Evan Johnson, IEEE Spectrum, 30 Apr. 2026
Some of the tech leaders talked about various UK investments and Charles spoke of AI guardrails and malicious actors.
—Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 28 Apr. 2026
On March 6, 2026, Moore pleaded no contest to counts of malicious use of a telecommunications device and trespass in a plea agreement that allowed for the other, more serious, charges to be dropped.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2026
LLMs judge whether a request is malicious by reading the request itself.
—Evan Johnson, IEEE Spectrum, 30 Apr. 2026
Some of the tech leaders talked about various UK investments and Charles spoke of AI guardrails and malicious actors.
—Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 28 Apr. 2026
On March 6, 2026, Moore pleaded no contest to counts of malicious use of a telecommunications device and trespass in a plea agreement that allowed for the other, more serious, charges to be dropped.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malicious
Adjective
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Now, is that the same as a soldier betting on the capture of a vicious dictator?—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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Beijing has long struggled to drive domestic consumption, while brutal competition in many industries has pushed producers to cut prices, triggering a vicious cycle in which people hold off on purchases in anticipation of coming discounts.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In what neatly encapsulates the uncomfortable, rude, thin-skinned yet cruel, sarcastic and ultimately juvenile communication style of his online brood, the leader of the pack started with — what else — Lawrence’s looks.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
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Every day in New York City, thousands of home attendants are being forced to work cruel 24-hour shifts while being paid for only 13 of those hours.—
Christopher Marte,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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An investigation is underway into hateful graffiti in a Long Island neighborhood.—
Jenna DeAngelis,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
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His humor is far more hateful than clever at this point.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The duo made up for the absence of Wembanyama, who did not clear concussion protocol after a nasty fall knocked him out early from a Game 2 loss.—
Christian Clark,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
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Lomu did not fit the typical profile Mike Vrabel seeks in linemen, players with a nasty streak and fierce play demeanor.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The sound of cockcrow, it was believed, prompted malevolent spirits to fly away.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Apr. 2026
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When Bastian ducks into a bookstore and starts reading a book about a malevolent force (the Nothing) devouring the realm of Fantasia, the narrative comes to life.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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However nasty and spiteful things get between the Butleys and the del Valles, there’s always the sense that a détente may still be possible.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
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But again and again throughout Thursday's hearing, the fraying of bonds between Kennedy and his former party was on full display as spiteful comments were passed back and forth.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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About half of mammary tumors found in dogs are benign, and of those that are malignant, most can be treated successfully with surgery if caught early enough.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
28 Apr. 2026
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Half of the mammary tumors found in dogs are benign, and of the malignant half, most can be treated successfully with surgery if caught early enough, the veterinary group notes.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malicious. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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