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 Middle English ivelwilled and ivelwilly (“malicious”), related to Old English yfelwillende (literally “evil-willing”). By surface analysis, malice +‎ -ious.

Pronunciation

• enPR: məlĭsh'əs, IPA^(key): /məˈlɪʃəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophone: militias

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, Thesaurus:cruel

   He was sent off for a malicious tackle on Jones.

   • 1681, [John Dryden], “To the Reader”, in Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] J[acob] T[onson] and are to be sold by W. Davis […], →OCLC:

     And novv, if you are a Malitious Reader, I expect you ſhould return upon me, that I affect to be thought more Impartial than I am.

   • 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

• malicious compliance
• maliciously
• malicious mischief
• maliciousness
• malicious prosecution
• malvertisement
• malvertising
• malware
• nonmalicious
• unmalicious

Translations

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

• Afrikaans: kwaadaardig
• 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 Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)

• Ido: mal-vol-anta, maligna (io)
• Indonesian: hasad (id), jahat (id)
• Irish: mailíseach
• 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)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: یامان (yaman)

• Ukrainian: злі́сний (zlísnyj)

deliberately harmful; spiteful

• Afrikaans: kwaadaardig
• 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 Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)

• Hindi: द्वेषी (hi) (dveṣī)
• Indonesian: berniat jahat
• Macedonian: недобронамерен (nedobronameren), злонамерен (zlonameren)
• Malay: berniat jahat
• Māori: waniwani, whakakinokino, hīkaka, kikokiko
• Norwegian: ondsinnet
• Polish: złowrogi (pl), zły (pl), wrogi (pl), umyślnie szkodliwy
• 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)

  Ottoman Turkish: یامان (yaman)

• Ukrainian: зловми́сний (zlovmýsnyj)