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
Published by Electronic Arts (EA), the game follows authors Mio Hudson and Zoe Foster who become trapped in the fictional world of their books by a malevolent machine.
—
Marc Saltzman, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
The episode begins in 1908 with a less-malevolent, non-supernatural Pennywise the Dancing Clown performing for a delighted audience of children.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 2025
Later, when a brawl breaks out in Aurora’s apartment, the shadow of a hand resembles a malevolent claw when observed from the other side of the door.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 11 Dec. 2025
Ritter plays Claire, a struggling single mother battling addiction, as a malevolent creature that feeds on despair begins to terrorize her and her two sons.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Marc Saltzman, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
The episode begins in 1908 with a less-malevolent, non-supernatural Pennywise the Dancing Clown performing for a delighted audience of children.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 2025
Later, when a brawl breaks out in Aurora’s apartment, the shadow of a hand resembles a malevolent claw when observed from the other side of the door.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 11 Dec. 2025
Ritter plays Claire, a struggling single mother battling addiction, as a malevolent creature that feeds on despair begins to terrorize her and her two sons.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malevolent
Adjective
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
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And at the heart of the series was the parasitic dynamic between Pine and his delightfully malicious foe, an arms dealer named Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie).—
Emily Zemler,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Officials charged Damon Leanord of Pleasanton, Kansas, with interference with law enforcement, having a vicious dog at large and criminal desecration of a body in Linn County and abandonment of a corpse charges in Bates County, Missouri, after finding the child’s body at the bottom of a creek bed.—
Sofi Zeman
January 6,
Kansas City Star,
6 Jan. 2026
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He was shocked in 2013 when he was struck by vicious bouts of vomiting.—
Robert McCoppin,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The forest had taught him that city dwellers could often be regulated by cruel and rather unpredictable codes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
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That Maduro is a cruel dictator is clear; that Trump intends more than just his arrest (such as taking their oil) is equally clear.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Thompson, meanwhile, savors every contemptuous glare and hateful retort Anna regularly supplies.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
8 Jan. 2026
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At best, both Labour and the Conservatives have spent political capital on an activist who has repeatedly expressed thoughtless and hateful views in public.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
30 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malevolent. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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