Synonyms for malicious
- adjective
Most common
evil-minded malignant malevolent spiteful evil nasty venomous vindictive
All synonyms
Adjective
malevolent, spiteful, vicious, malign, evil-minded, malignant, vindictive, evil, venomous, nasty, mischievous, harmful, hateful, sinister, devilish, pernicious, wicked, bad, diabolical, catty informal, felonious, diabolic, satanic, rancorous, fiendish, poisonous, iniquitous, rotten, invidious, inhuman, mean, detrimental, baneful, deleterious, baleful, bitchy informal, ill, bitter, infernal, envious, malefic, fell, maleficent, nefarious
Definitions
- adj. 1
Intending to do harm; characterized by spite and malice.
He was sent off for a malicious tackle on Jones.
Related words
- Phrases
- malicious mischief
Example sentences
- malignant Her face was distorted and malignant with menace.
- malevolent This world is controlled by malevolent forces.
- spiteful Fyodor’s mother is a spiteful woman who despises Rima.
- evil Grr! Avoid not, unwelcome evil and cowardly beast!
- nasty The child had a nasty cough because he had a cold.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| malicious | rising | |
| malignant | steady | |
| malevolent | rising | |
| spiteful | rising | |
| evil | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1, ill1
- 4 letters
- mean1, fell1, evil2
- 5 letters
- nasty2, catty2
- 6 letters
- bitter2, wicked2, rotten2, bitchy2, malign2
- 7 letters
- harmful2, vicious2, hateful2, satanic3, inhuman3, envious3, baleful2, malefic, baneful
- 8 letters
- sinister3, venomous3, infernal3, spiteful2, devilish2, fiendish2, diabolic
- 9 letters
- poisonous3, malignant3, nefarious4, felonious4, invidious4, rancorous3
- 10 letters
- vindictive3, diabolical5, malevolent4, pernicious3, maleficent, iniquitous
- 11 letters
- detrimental4, mischievous3, deleterious5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- malveillant
- Italiano
- malevolo
- Español
- malevolente
- Deutsch
- böswillig