adjective
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characterized by malice
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motivated by wrongful, vicious, or mischievous purposes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of malicious
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English malicius, from Old French, from Latin malitiōsus; see malice, -ous
Explanation
Someone who is malicious enjoys hurting or embarrassing others. If you're writing a book about good and evil, you'll want to come up with a truly malicious character to do all the bad stuff. Malicious is the adjective based on the noun malice, which means the desire to harm others. Both words come from the Latin word malus, for bad. If someone is malicious he doesn't just make bad things happen; he loves to make bad things happen.
Vocabulary lists containing malicious
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Salieri is malicious and conniving, which Bettany disconcertingly says was very easy to embody.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
Mr. Mamdani provoked it by using a malicious, personal attack to promote his pied-à-terre tax.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Patel filed a $250 million suit last month against The Atlantic magazine and the author of the article, Sarah Fitzpatrick, calling it a "sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece."
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
I guess if I walk through the various checks available—One: criminal charges for malicious prosecution and other kinds of things.
From Slate • May 4, 2026
She alone had known how to outsmart the malicious mountain Ka’t’sina who imprisoned the rain clouds in the northwest room of his magical house.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
