malevolent

[muh-lev-uh-luhnt]

adjective

1. wishing evil or harm to another or others; showing ill will; ill-disposed; malicious.

   His failures made him malevolent toward those who were successful.

2. evil; harmful; injurious.

   a malevolent inclination to destroy the happiness of others.

3. Astrology.,  evil or malign in influence.

malevolent

/ məˈlɛvələnt /

adjective

1. wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; malicious

2. astrology having an evil influence

Other Word Forms

• malevolently adverb
• unmalevolent adjective
• unmalevolently adverb
• malevolence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of malevolent¹

First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin malevolent-, stem of malevolēns “ill-disposed, spiteful,” from male- male- + volēns “wanting” (present participle of velle “to want, wish for, desire”; will ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of malevolent¹

C16: from Latin malevolens, from male ill + volens, present participle of velle to wish

Example Sentences

It’s like a malevolent Ouroboros, where we can’t tell which is the head and which the tail, or which end is swallowing the other.

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Meanwhile, the petulant Jesus starts feeling his powers and is suddenly called a savior by some, a malevolent sorcerer by others.

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Despite its critics, nationalism isn’t always a malevolent force.

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His flights of fancy— malevolent music, undead scholars, imaginary brothers, a cult led by a guru with 93 Ferraris in an “experimental township” called the Moon — are more controlled and add subtle strokes of color.

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One can only wonder at the malevolent pleasure he would have felt at his Cubist masterworks ending up at the Met and not at the Tate or MoMA, which he had disdained for decades.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• malicious 
• malignant 
• murderous 
• sinister 
• vengeful 
• vicious 
• wicked