malefaction
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of malefaction
First recorded in 1375–1425 for an earlier sense; 1595–1605 for current sense; Middle English malefaccioun “impotence”; see malefactor, -ion
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.
Mr. Morris: There are these forces of malefaction, and then there’s one scene that I wanted to ask you about, where you make your argument for why Kennedy is a good man.
From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2011
The civilized and resourceful Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn is on duty here, spying out malefaction at something called the Rod and Gun Club, a secretive woodsy preserve for male members of the Eastern ruling class.
From Time Magazine Archive
If the machine got rid of malefaction, it would, indeed, have a noble end.
From Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood by MacDonald, George
His preferred field of malefaction is the country that is most nearly anarchical.
From The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays 1909 by Howes, S. O. (Silas Orrin)
It is an age Of traders and of tricksters; all the high And hounded malefactors of great wealth Differ from the masses, in their wealth, indeed; But in their malefaction, not at all.
From Mr. Faust by Ficke, Arthur Davison
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.
