maliciousness

American  

[muh-lish-uhs-nis] / məˈlɪʃ əs nɪs /

noun

1. the fact or quality of being spiteful or intentionally harmful.

   When these students present their poems to their peers, the response may include some kidding around, but never any maliciousness.

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Other Word Forms

• nonmaliciousness noun
• semimaliciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of maliciousness

malicious + -ness ( def. )

Explanation

Maliciousness is the trait of wanting to harm someone. A bully's maliciousness may cause him to push smaller kids off the swings and laugh. Not nice! Thankfully, true maliciousness is rare — the bad guy in a book or movie is more likely to be motivated by maliciousness than people you meet in real life. Still, if someone acts in a hateful or vindictive way, appearing to enjoy watching others suffer pain or humiliation, that's maliciousness. We can trace this word back to the Latin malitiosus, "wicked," from the root malus, "bad."

Example Sentences

"More and more people are using this subject for their own purposes and displaying maliciousness, this is not my intention," he added.

From BBC • Aug. 7, 2023

But she said their lack of apparent remorse “shows a callousness and maliciousness that disgusts me.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 2023

Despite the maliciousness in the story, Bettany found performing it compelling, although not always easy.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2022

“I still am relatively amazed that they have not really launched the level of maliciousness that their cyber arsenal includes,” Mr. Warner said.

From Washington Times • Mar. 14, 2022

I have always found this criticism to be vexing and based on both ignorance of ANC history and maliciousness.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela