malefactor
Americannoun
-
a person who violates the law; criminal.
-
a person who does harm or evil, especially toward another.
- Antonyms:
- benefactor
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of malefactor
1400–50; late Middle English malefactour < Latin malefactor, equivalent to malefac ( ere ) to act wickedly, do an evil deed ( see male-, fact) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A malefactor has done something illegal and has been or will be convicted, such as the malefactor who was videotaped stealing money from a cash register. To correctly pronounce malefactor, remember that the first syllable, mal rhymes with pal. A malefactor, however, is no friend you should have. Mal- comes from Latin and means "bad, evil," and facere means "to perform." A malefactor performs evil acts, or to put it a little less dramatically, does really bad things.
Vocabulary lists containing malefactor
Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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Make Do: Fac
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Much Ado About Nothing
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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.
Any doubt about the identity of the unnamed malefactor was dispelled in the first footnote to the statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
He’s an honest policeman who describes himself as a “functionnaire,” a civil servant, and whose belief in justice might sometimes lead him to letting a malefactor escape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Milton's benchmark for when a book becomes a "malefactor" is a little unclear.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2020
Bridges was a zealous vamp from the get-go; Tomasson a prowling, barefaced malefactor; Bouley a restless shark, gliding between wily poses.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2020
Thereupon I surrendered myself to the officer, who, to my supreme annoyance, insisted on handcuffing me like a common malefactor.
From In Strange Company A Story of Chili and the Southern Seas by Guy Newell Boothby
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.
