malicious

English

Alternative forms

• malitious (obsolete)

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.

   Synonym: malevolent

   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.

Synonyms

• malevolent
• evil
• See also Thesaurus:evil

Derived terms

• maliciously
• maliciousness
• malicious mischief
• malicious prosecution

Translations

of, pertaining to, or as a result of malice or spite

• Armenian: նենգ (hy) (neng)
• Bulgarian: зло́бен (bg) (zlóben), зло́стен (bg) (zlósten)
• Catalan: maliciós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡意的／恶意的 (zh) (èyì de), 惡毒的／恶毒的 (zh) (èdú de), 懷恨的／怀恨的 (zh) (huáihèn de), 心懷叵測的／心怀叵测的 (zh) (xīnhuáipǒcè de), 蓄意的 (zh) (xùyì de)

• Czech: záludný (cs)
• Danish: maliciøs
• Dutch: boos (nl), kwaad (nl), kwaadaardig (nl)
• Estonian: pahatahtlik
• Finnish: ilkeä (fi)
• French: malveillant (fr)
• Galician: malicioso (gl)
• German: böse (de), boshaft (de), maliziös (de), böswillig (de), bösartig (de)
• Greek: κακόβουλος (el) (kakóvoulos), κακεντρεχής (el) (kakentrechís), μοχθηρός (el) (mochthirós), κακοήθης (el) (kakoḯthis)

  Ancient: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)

• Ido: mal-vol-anta, maligna (io)
• Indonesian: hasad (id), jahat (id)
• Italian: doloso (it), cattivo (it), malizioso (it), malevole (it)
• Japanese: 悪意のある (ja) (あくいのある, akui no aru)
• Macedonian: малициозен (maliciozen), злобен (zloben), пакосен (pakosen)
• Polish: złośliwy (pl)
• Portuguese: malicioso (pt), maldoso (pt)
• Romanian: malițios (ro), răutăcios (ro)
• Russian: злой (ru) (zloj), зло́бный (ru) (zlóbnyj), зло́стный (ru) (zlóstnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: mȁliciōzan (sh), zlȍban (sh)
• Slovene: zloben, hudoben
• Spanish: maligno (es)
• Swedish: illasinnad (sv), illvillig (sv), uppsåtlig (sv)

deliberately harmful; spiteful

• Armenian: նենգ (hy) (neng)
• Azerbaijani: pis məqsədli, qərəzli, pisniyyət, pisniyyətli
• Bulgarian: злонамерен (bg) (zlonameren)
• Catalan: maliciós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡意的／恶意的 (zh) (èyì de), 惡毒的／恶毒的 (zh) (èdú de), 懷恨的／怀恨的 (zh) (huáihèn de), 心懷叵測的／心怀叵测的 (zh) (xīnhuáipǒcè de), 蓄意的 (zh) (xùyì de)

• Czech: škodolibý (cs), zlomyslný (cs), zlovolný
• Esperanto: malica
• Finnish: pahansuopa (fi), pahantahtoinen (fi)
• French: mauvais (fr)
• Greek: μοχθηρός (el) (mochthirós)

  Ancient: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)

• Indonesian: berniat jahat
• Macedonian: недобронамерен (nedobronameren), злонамерен (zlonameren)
• Malay: berniat jahat
• Maori: waniwani, whakakinokino, hīkaka, kikokiko
• Norwegian: ondsinnet
• Polish: złowrogi (pl), zły (pl), wrogi (pl)
• Russian: злоумы́шленный (ru) (zloumýšlennyj), злонаме́ренный (ru) (zlonamérennyj)
• Sanskrit: दुर्जन (sa) (durjana)
• Serbo-Croatian: mȁliciōzan (sh), zlonámjēran (sh)
• Slovak: zloprajný, zlovoľný, zlomyseľný
• Slovene: škodoželjen (sl)
• Swedish: illasinnad (sv), illvillig (sv), ond (sv), elak (sv), maliciös (sv), uppsåtlig (sv)
• Turkish: kötü niyetli, kötü amaçlı, kötücül (tr)