MALICE Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'malice' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of malice are grudge , ill will , malevolence , malignity , spite , and spleen . While all these words mean "the desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress," malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer. // felt no malice toward their former enemies

Q: When is 'grudge' a more appropriate choice than 'malice'?

Although the words grudge and malice have much in common, grudge implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction. // never one to harbor a grudge

Q: When is it sensible to use 'ill will' instead of 'malice'?

In some situations, the words ill will and malice are roughly equivalent. However, ill will implies a feeling of antipathy of limited duration. // ill will provoked by a careless remark

Q: Where would 'malevolence' be a reasonable alternative to 'malice'?

The words malevolence and malice are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, malevolence suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct. // a look of dark malevolence

Q: In what contexts can 'malignity' take the place of 'malice'?

The words malignity and malice can be used in similar contexts, but malignity implies deep passion and relentlessness. // a life consumed by motiveless malignity

Q: When would 'spite' be a good substitute for 'malice'?

The synonyms spite and malice are sometimes interchangeable, but spite implies petty feelings of envy and resentment that are often expressed in small harassments. // petty insults inspired by spite

Q: When might 'spleen' be a better fit than 'malice'?

While the synonyms spleen and malice are close in meaning, spleen suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice. // venting his spleen against politicians

malice

noun

ˈma-ləs

Definition of malice next

as in venom

the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm there was no reason other than pure malice to spread such disgusting lies all over campus

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun malice differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of malice are grudge, ill will, malevolence, malignity, spite, and spleen. While all these words mean "the desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress," malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer.

felt no malice toward their former enemies

When is grudge a more appropriate choice than malice?

Although the words grudge and malice have much in common, grudge implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction.

never one to harbor a grudge

When is it sensible to use ill will instead of malice?

In some situations, the words ill will and malice are roughly equivalent. However, ill will implies a feeling of antipathy of limited duration.

ill will provoked by a careless remark

Where would malevolence be a reasonable alternative to malice?

The words malevolence and malice are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, malevolence suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct.

a look of dark malevolence

In what contexts can malignity take the place of malice?

The words malignity and malice can be used in similar contexts, but malignity implies deep passion and relentlessness.

a life consumed by motiveless malignity

When would spite be a good substitute for malice?

The synonyms spite and malice are sometimes interchangeable, but spite implies petty feelings of envy and resentment that are often expressed in small harassments.

petty insults inspired by spite

When might spleen be a better fit than malice?

While the synonyms spleen and malice are close in meaning, spleen suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice.

venting his spleen against politicians

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of malice The documentary explores the dark web of fraud, deception and malice that led Parker to feign a pregnancy to try to bolster her relationship with boyfriend Wade Griffin — and when her fake due date passed, kill Hancock for her baby, Braxlynn Sage. —

Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026 Baldoni and his attorneys failed to prove Lively had acted with malice. —

Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 12 June 2026 Competing interests What connects these cases is not malice. —

Buket Altınçelep, The Conversation, 12 June 2026 For such a plaintiff to succeed, their defamation claim must meet a standard of actual malice — either knowing the statements were false or showing a reckless disregard for the truth. —

Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for malice

Recent Examples of Synonyms for malice

Noun

Public Luxury is less a dissertation on those tenets than an emotional response to the struggle to achieve it—mouths dripping with venom, eyes swollen with tears, hearts heavy with love.

— Matthew Ismael Ruiz, Pitchfork, 26 June 2026
One common misconception is that lionfish are inedible because of their venom.

— Rachel Nuwer, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 June 2026

Definition of venom

Noun

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a judge released Cruz on his own recognizance June 4 following his arraignment on felony animal cruelty charges in Sacramento Superior Court.

— Velvet Wu July 1, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026
At one point, the narrator, embarrassed by his own act of cruelty, gives a sobbing woman all his money and then leaves her alone in a hotel room.

— Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 1 July 2026

Definition of cruelty

Noun

In spite of their original values of humanitarianism and neutrality, these organizations have been morally debased from within, using the language of human rights and international justice yet deploying it on behalf of autocracies and against the liberal democracies that created them.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
The ball got away from Witt at short in spite of his best efforts to keep it on the infield.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 27 June 2026

Definition of spite

Noun

Trump’s narcissistic obsession with the place, together with the miasmic hatefulness of his words and actions, has caused artists to flee en masse.

— Alex Ross, New Yorker, 19 Mar. 2026
Comment sections have always attracted hatefulness and resentment; these ones just happen to encourage it more explicitly.

— Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025

Definition of hatefulness

Noun

Sometimes the irony turns bitter and, with a typically Eastern European sensibility, highlights the paradoxes of institutions, as well as the madness and meanness born from the pursuit and preservation of power.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 8 June 2026
After 1965, when African Americans’ right to vote was constitutionally recognized, the meanness continued.

— Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 May 2026

Definition of meanness

Noun

The rise of Santa Muerte The other folk saint tied to narco culture is Santa Muerte, whose Grim Reaper appearance and relative obscurity prompt assumptions of malevolence.

— Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 7 June 2026
Trying to find charm and not having malevolence as the intention, not trying to be evil, let the brilliant writing do that.

— David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 13 May 2026