adjective
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characterized by malice
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motivated by wrongful, vicious, or mischievous purposes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of malicious
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English malicius, from Old French, from Latin malitiōsus; see malice, -ous
Explanation
Someone who is malicious enjoys hurting or embarrassing others. If you're writing a book about good and evil, you'll want to come up with a truly malicious character to do all the bad stuff. Malicious is the adjective based on the noun malice, which means the desire to harm others. Both words come from the Latin word malus, for bad. If someone is malicious he doesn't just make bad things happen; he loves to make bad things happen.
Vocabulary lists containing malicious
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
Earlier, lawyers for MacInnes said Wilson's allegations were "malicious concoctions" and the court heard claims the Hollywood star had ordered a smear website to target Ghost, which Wilson denied.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Scammers will ask you to provide or verify personal information, account login details or two-factor authentication codes, transfer money to them or download malicious software, it says.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Johnson said the bill was meant to curtail malicious records requests, which do happen, where a citizen goes after copious amounts of records just to be a jerk and cost the government time and money.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Last year, security researchers found that hackers could potentially slip malicious prompts into emails sent to office workers using Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI assistant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
“No, of course not. That is just malicious gossip. But no one in Wethersfield has anything to do with Hannah Tupper.”
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.