Definitions

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.

The risk of malicious code injection through AI-generated software, she noted, is not unique to any one country.

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

Salieri is malicious and conniving, which Bettany disconcertingly says was very easy to embody.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

A phishing email was used to launch the hack which allowed the cyber attackers to install malicious software and it remained undetected within the organisation's systems for 20 months.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

Mr. Mamdani provoked it by using a malicious, personal attack to promote his pied-à-terre tax.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

“For how long?” mocked the profane old man with a gleam of malicious elation.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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!