as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
the maliciousness of some Internet trolls led the editor to start moderating comments on the site
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Recent Examples of maliciousness
Rather than pursuing code maliciousness, limit code behavior regarding networking calls, file accesses and memory execution.
—
Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for maliciousness
Noun
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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
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Baldoni and his attorneys failed to prove Lively had acted with malice.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
12 June 2026
Noun
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With venom and shrewd determination, Nicholson paints his character as a swaggering monster who milks every syllable of his dialogue with vitriolic relish.—
Eric Farwell,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 June 2026
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Perhaps the most fascinating question is why natural selection favored venom of such extraordinary potency in the first place.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Maliciousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maliciousness. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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