malicious

[muh-lish-uhs] / məˈlɪʃ əs /

ADJECTIVE

hateful

Synonyms

STRONGEST

malevolent malignant mischievous nasty pernicious petty spiteful vengeful venomous vicious virulent wicked

WEAK

awful bad-natured baleful beastly bitter catty cussed deleterious despiteful detrimental envious evil evil-minded green green-eyed gross ill-disposed injurious jealous low malign mean noxious ornery poisonous rancorous resentful uncool

Antonyms

STRONGEST

aiding assisting decent forgiving friendly gentle good harmless helpful kind liking loving moral nice pleasant pleasing useful

WEAK

benevolent likeable sympathetic thoughtful

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.

SEOUL—The largest cryptocurrency heist this year didn’t begin with malicious code, but with handshakes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Malicious prosecution cases are similarly hard to bring because they require proof that a prosecutor had malicious intentions, not just a bad case.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

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 worry isn’t so much that AI will replace cybersecurity tools; rather, malicious actors will use AI to get through the security systems.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

The Company had no sooner warmed to Miss Whitlaw than other demons proved just how malicious they could be.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

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

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!