Synonyms for malevolence
Most common
Definitions
- n. 1
Hostile attitude or feeling.
to show someone malevolence
Related words
- Word family
- malevolent
Forms
- Plural
- malevolences → malices, maliciousnesses, hatreds, animosities…
Choose the right word
Malice is a stronger word than malevolence, which may imply only a desire that evil may befall another, while malice desires, and perhaps intends, to bring it about.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- hatred Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.
- malice He jostled me unintentionally, not out of malice.
- badness Sheer badness is just one of her fine qualities.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| malevolence | rising | |
| hatred | rising | |
| malice | steady | |
| maliciousness | rising | |
| badness | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hate1
- 5 letters
- spite1, venom2
- 6 letters
- hatred2, malice2, grudge1, spleen1, enmity3, rancor2
- 7 letters
- despite2, badness2, rancour
- 8 letters
- acrimony4
- 9 letters
- hostility4, animosity5, antipathy4, virulence3, malignity
- 11 letters
- malevolency
- 12 letters
- spitefulness
- 13 letters
- maliciousness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (venom2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- malveillance
- Español
- malevolencia
- Deutsch
- Boshaftigkeit
- Català
- malvolença