VIRULENT Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

virulent

adjective

ˈvir-ə-lənt

as in malicious

having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it the virulent look on her face warned me that she was about to say something unkind

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 virulent The precautions are necessary, says Colleen Jonsson, a virologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, because of the possibility of the virus mutating to become more virulent. —

Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 6 May 2026 Some of the bacteria that have been detected on the ISS have evolved during their time in space, including salmonella that have become more virulent and acinetobacter pittii that developed resistance to antibiotics. —

Scott E. Solomon, STAT, 22 Apr. 2026 How did the virulent nationalism and fraught politics of France’s interwar period—no less racked by crisis than its nuclear-era dénouement—inform the artist’s approach to figure and form? —

Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 16 Apr. 2026 The first great wave of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States began in 1881, set off by virulent, violent antisemitism in the Pale of Settlement. —

Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for virulent

Recent Examples of Synonyms for virulent

Adjective

Tech companies are developing tools and collaborating, yet voluntary efforts struggle against sophisticated malicious actors.

— Richard Fowler, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
For cybersecurity companies, identifying a digital agent crawling a website used to be enough evidence of malicious activity.

— Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 17 June 2026