malicious

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English malicious, from Old French malicios, from Latin malitiōsus, from malitia (“malice”), from malus (“bad”). Displaced native Old English yfelwillende.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: məlĭsh'əs, IPA(key): /məˈlɪʃəs/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Adjective

malicious (comparative more malicious, superlative most malicious)

  1. Intending to do harm; characterized by spite and malice.
    Synonyms: evil, maleficent, malevolent; see also Thesaurus:evil
    He was sent off for a malicious tackle on Jones.
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 , New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:
      They gathered soberly in the farthest recess of the ward and gossiped about him in malicious, offended undertones, rebelling against his presence as a ghastly imposition and resenting him malevolently for the nauseating truth of which he was bright reminder.

Derived terms

Translations

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