adjective
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characterized by malice
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motivated by wrongful, vicious, or mischievous purposes
Other Word Forms
- maliciously adverb
- maliciousness noun
- nonmalicious adjective
- nonmaliciously adverb
- semimalicious adjective
- semimaliciously adverb
- unmalicious adjective
- unmaliciously adverb
Etymology
Origin of malicious
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English malicius, from Old French, from Latin malitiōsus; malice, -ous
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.
Studying the data, engineers from the company realized that some of the malicious traffic was coming from an employee’s home address.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
The FBI said it was aware of "malicious actors" targeting Patel's email information.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
“There was no allegation of deadly force and no allegation of malicious intent.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
Nigel Dewale, who sent online abuse to England defender Jess Carter during last year's Women's Euros, is set to be sentenced on March 25 after pleading guilty to a charge of malicious communication in January.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
Esteban Trueba, ever fearful of public ridicule, opted for a solution that would not provide material for malicious tongues, because he knew that his wife’s strange behavior was the target of local gossips.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
