malevolent

English

Etymology

From Middle English *malevolent (suggested by Middle English malevolence), from Old French malivolent and Latin malevolentem, from male (“badly, wrongly”) + volens (“willing, wishing”), from velle (“to wish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈlɛvələnt/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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Adjective

malevolent (comparative more malevolent, superlative most malevolent)

1. Having or displaying ill will; wishing harm on others.
   • 2022 October 27, Simon Parkin, “README.txt by Chelsea Manning review – secrets and spies”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     In Iraq the bullying continued. After she witnessed the death of a colleague, Manning felt how “with enough grief, adrenaline and fear”, war can turn anyone “amoral, even malevolent”.

2. Having an evil or harmful influence.
   • 2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 August 2019:

     Vela, Javier Hernández and Lozano switched positions with a thrillingly malevolent sense of purpose.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:evil

Antonyms

• benevolent

Derived terms

• malevolently

Related terms

• malevolence

Translations