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
To defend against this malicious activity, the advisory recommended applying security patches and firmware updates to all IP cameras, disabling remote access and using a firewall to prevent communication with the camera from IP addresses not on an allowlist.
—
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 28 May 2025
Researchers from security firm Legit on Thursday demonstrated an attack that induced Duo into inserting malicious code into a script it had been instructed to write.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 23 May 2025
The malicious URLs outputted in the response are in clickable form, meaning all a user has to do is click one to be taken to a malicious site.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 23 May 2025
Enhances visibility and control of network traffic and user activities and detects and blocks malicious activities.
—Mickey Singh, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 28 May 2025
Researchers from security firm Legit on Thursday demonstrated an attack that induced Duo into inserting malicious code into a script it had been instructed to write.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 23 May 2025
The malicious URLs outputted in the response are in clickable form, meaning all a user has to do is click one to be taken to a malicious site.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 23 May 2025
Enhances visibility and control of network traffic and user activities and detects and blocks malicious activities.
—Mickey Singh, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malicious
Adjective
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There are other objects of worship from the days when Japan’s Christians had to hide from vicious persecution, including a ceramic bottle of holy water from Nakaenoshima, an island where Hidden Christians were martyred in the 1620s.—
Foster Klug,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
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Years before the Kendrick Lamar and Drake imbroglio, Pusha T shared his own vicious diss track against the Canadian hip-hop superstar.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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This is cruel, unnecessary, and will further fan the flames of economic chaos for working families across this country.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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And for every San Antonio, there is a Utah or Washington or Charlotte that can’t believe how cruel the lottery can be.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Black said the synagogue has received hateful emails and phone calls.—
Rosario Del Valle,
Sun Sentinel,
3 June 2025
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Hamas, Iran, and their allies and ideological sympathizers in the West have flooded the world with their hateful lies and antisemitic incitement since October 7 — lies designed to demonize Israel, the Jewish people, and their supporters.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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And some erratic vibrations were detected at points last week as the stark outperformance of year-to-date laggards over the top 2025 performers prompted some comparisons to the nasty momentum-stock reversal of February and March that upset the market well before the tariff panic.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
14 June 2025
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But while Burns appeared to solve Oakmont for the day, some players who performed well on Thursday got eaten alive by the nasty course on Friday.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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The unstoppable spread of a malevolent fungal strain called cordyceps has ravaged the global population and turned ordinary human beings into zombies who survive only by feasting on the flesh of the uninfected, thereby plunging society into an unimaginable nightmare.—
Michael M. Rosen,
The Washington Examiner,
30 May 2025
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The film’s synopsis reads: Set in London’s iconic shadowy underground, the malevolent figure of Creep unleashes fresh terror on unsuspecting tube passengers and Londoners.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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But what does our contemporary obsession — both spiteful and fawning — with Brutalism say about our wants and needs as a society at this moment?—
Anna Kodé,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2025
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Several diss tracks followed, with the musicians hurling increasingly spiteful insults at each other relating to accusations of domestic abuse, exploitation and pedophilia.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Further testing turned out that the tumor was malignant.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 May 2025
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Phelan graduated high school in May 2024, and days before starting her freshman year of college, was diagnosed with an inoperable stage 4 malignant brain tumor, a GoFundMe for her states.—
Viola Flowers,
NBC news,
26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malicious. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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