1
as in criminal
a person who commits moral wrongs
she regards anyone who would cause the breakup of a family as a malefactor of the worst sort
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in offender
a person who has committed a crime
the victim was able to give a clear description of the malefactor to the police
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of malefactor
Some malefactors even hire out farms of humans to defeat them in bulk.
CAPTCHAs also have unexpected benefits for those who run them.
—
ArsTechnica, 28 July 2025
Its victims, malefactors, and investigators are largely without personality, their function being merely to leave or follow trails, and to wear out a reader with anticlimax after anticlimax.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
The sense of purpose that motivated Bush after 9/11, combined with his visceral antipathy to Saddam—who was, after all, one of the great malefactors of the modern age—brought moral clarity, as well as strategic myopia.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023
Either way, The Lowdown finds Harjo dipping into pleasantly familiar reservoirs of fiction in which the protagonists know how to take a constant beating, the malefactors are all suspiciously verbose and ostentatious hats abound.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for malefactor
ArsTechnica, 28 July 2025
Its victims, malefactors, and investigators are largely without personality, their function being merely to leave or follow trails, and to wear out a reader with anticlimax after anticlimax.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
The sense of purpose that motivated Bush after 9/11, combined with his visceral antipathy to Saddam—who was, after all, one of the great malefactors of the modern age—brought moral clarity, as well as strategic myopia.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023
Either way, The Lowdown finds Harjo dipping into pleasantly familiar reservoirs of fiction in which the protagonists know how to take a constant beating, the malefactors are all suspiciously verbose and ostentatious hats abound.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for malefactor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malefactor
Noun
-
Göring, played by Russell Crowe, is the troubling centerpiece of James Vanderbilt’s ambitious film devoted to the trial of the major Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945–1946.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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Also included is a 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and a $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.—
LISA MASCARO,
Arkansas Online,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Anyone can see how many cases are filed, how much attorneys collect, and who the worst offenders are.—
Tom Manzo,
Oc Register,
6 Apr. 2026
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Punish the worst offenders by requiring them to apologize, publicly, for missing the mark.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Anderson frames his argument largely in relation to the thought of thirteenth-century theologian Thomas Aquinas, who argued that Christians are generally obliged to directly confront someone who is behaving wrongly, and to do it in private to preserve the wrongdoer’s reputation.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Mar. 2026
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He’s talked tough in news conferences about prosecuting child predators, drug traffickers and assorted wrongdoers.—
Dan Sullivan,
Miami Herald,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In fact, the pointed hoods of nazarenos are inspired by clothes used to shame sinners during the Spanish Inquisition.—
Alexis Marshall,
NPR,
3 Apr. 2026
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In the comments, Ivey argued with fans using Bible verses and accused several of being sinners for their beliefs and lifestyles.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Design There’s a reason James Bond villains chase 007’s Aston Martin in fleets of black Defenders.—
John Scott Lewinski,
Robb Report,
8 Apr. 2026
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Wagner had only occasional presence and went MIA for awhile, coming across as a shady character and a possible villain who was set up as a potential love interest for Morgan early on.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malefactor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malefactor. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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