malice

[mal-is]

noun

1. desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness.

   the malice and spite of a lifelong enemy.

   Synonyms: rancor, bitterness, hatred, hate, venom, malevolence, enmity, animosity, spitefulness, spite, ill will
   Antonyms: goodwill, benevolence

2. Law.,  evil intent on the part of a person who commits a wrongful act injurious to others.

malice

/ ˈmælɪs /

noun

1. the desire to do harm or mischief

2. evil intent

3. law the state of mind with which an act is committed and from which the intent to do wrong may be inferred See also malice aforethought

Word History and Origins

Origin of malice¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin malitia; equivalent to mal- + -ice

Word History and Origins

Origin of malice¹

C13: via Old French from Latin malitia, from malus evil

Synonym Study

See grudge.

Example Sentences

"The actual malice here is the knowing dissemination of something that was purported to be verbatim, but which is not," said Mr Neuborne, the former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Read more on BBC

He is charged with murder based on the concept of implied malice, suggesting a conscious disregard for human life, after allegedly reaching 104 mph before the crash.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I don’t have a theory for Mr. Roberts’s motive, although I am partial to the principle known as Hanlon’s razor: Don’t attribute to malice what you can explain by stupidity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Neither can most memoirs, but, at 85 years, Atwood’s valediction to readers shares “many strange happenings, incidents of malice, odd dreams, conversations, joyful moments, ghosts, stupid mistakes, and catastrophes.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Pennywise embodies an ancient malice that surfaces every 27 years to prey on children for anywhere between a few months and a year and a half or more.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• animosity 
• animus 
• antipathy 
• bitterness 
• enmity 
• grudge 
• hate 
• hatred 
• hostility 
• ill will 
• meanness 
• rancor 
• resentment 
• vengefulness www.thesaurus.com