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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of malicious
Some malicious components can remain behind.
—
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Feb. 2026
Finally, restricting the monetization of inauthentic engagement would reduce the financial incentives for influence operations and other malicious groups to use synthetic consensus.
—Filippo Menczer, The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2026
This did not mean the original reporting was malicious.
—Charles Edward Gehrke, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026
Your boss may not be malicious, just consumed in their own ambitions.
—Chris Lipp, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Feb. 2026
Finally, restricting the monetization of inauthentic engagement would reduce the financial incentives for influence operations and other malicious groups to use synthetic consensus.
—Filippo Menczer, The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2026
This did not mean the original reporting was malicious.
—Charles Edward Gehrke, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026
Your boss may not be malicious, just consumed in their own ambitions.
—Chris Lipp, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malicious
Adjective
-
There are fun villains; Reggie’s nemesis is a sneakily vicious NFL alum (Craig Robinson) with the splendid name Jerry Basmati.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Anderson received the Sydney Schanberg Prize for his reporting on decades of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where regional and global actors have fuelled one of the world’s most vicious entrenched conflicts.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
His lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, sought to show that his past had formed him, but there was a cruel irony in the reference.—
Gaby Wood,
Vogue,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Many of these schools are impossibly competitive – impossibly and fantastically cruel.—
Anastasia Tsioulcas,
NPR,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Are human beings prone to doing hateful things?—
Tara Sonenshine,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Feb. 2026
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Logan Paul called out his brother Jake Paul for his hateful take on the Bad Bunny halftime show.—
Prince J. Grimes,
USA Today,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Failing to check abatement expiration dates creates nasty surprises when incentives end.—
Allison Palmer
Updated February 20,
Kansas City Star,
20 Feb. 2026
-
The club’s record £125million signing suffered a nasty leg break away to Spurs in December.—
Caoimhe O'Neill,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Chater and Loewenstein believe that the government nudgers are not malevolent, but misguided.—
Rob Wolfe,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
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The series follows a teenage boy who forms an unlikely alliance with the Fairy Queen of Celtic lore to search for malevolent mythical creatures from around the world, among them the Yeti, Baba Yaga and a Lady Dracula — not to destroy them, but to save them from impending doom.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
What does that mean, a spiteful number?—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
17 Feb. 2026
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Melvin Williams, a professor of communication and media studies at Pace University, says the spiteful nature of Swift and Lively's texts doesn't reflect well on either woman − and both have probably lost some fans as a result.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Over time, these polyps can become cancerous (malignant) and spread to other areas of the body.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
12 Feb. 2026
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The researchers found that this therapy prolonged survival in patients with glioblastoma, the most common and malignant primary brain tumor.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malicious. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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