maleficent
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of maleficent
1670–80; back formation from Latin maleficentia maleficence; see -ent
Explanation
When you're maleficent, you're evil or want to do evil things. So it's safe to say that Satan is one maleficent guy. This word is a bit old-fashioned and you don't hear it often. But there are still plenty of maleficent people in the world — they're the bad guys, the evil-doers, the folks who wish harm on others. Maleficent means something very close to malevolent or diabolical and is a lot stronger than naughty or mischievous.
Vocabulary lists containing maleficent
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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Even More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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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.
“It’s really hard to predict all the maleficent uses,” said Giada Pistilli, principal ethicist at Hugging Face.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2023
The actor, more often cast as likable and light, makes fairy-tale Flynn maleficent.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2014
We don’t see Maleficent before she becomes, well, maleficent.
From New York Times • May 29, 2014
Hiddleston, known to Marvel fans as the brooding, maleficent Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, stepped into the Adam role when Michael Fassbender stepped out.
From Time • Apr. 9, 2014
The moated grange and the dark tower were harmless rococo terrors beside the maleficent commonplace of Agnes House.
From Sinister Street, vol. 2 by MacKenzie, Compton
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.
