- malicious
- malicious, malevolent, malignant, malign, spiteful arecomparable when they mean disposed to do or to inflict evil or resulting from a disposition to do or to inflict evil.A person or thing is malicious that is motivated or dictated by hatred or spite and, usually, by a desire to inflict injury and suffering or to see another in disgrace or an object of ridicule or contempt{
episodes . . . when they create a scandal, they are hushed as much as possible, so as not to offend chaste ears and rejoice malicious ones— Guérard
}{criticism based on guesswork and even on malicious falsification of fact— Roosevelt
}{took a malicious pleasure in emphasizing this point and in watching me wince— Kipling
}A person or thing is malevolent that evidences ill will or an intent to do evil, or a sinister influence{Captain Tilney must have heard some malevolent misrepresentation of her— Austen
}{there is no free breath to be drawn within the sphere of so malevolent an influence— Hawthorne
}{the medicine man . . . can be malevolent as well as benevolent. If he desires the death of enemies he calls his spirits and bids them to harm the object of his hatred— Corlett
}A person or thing is malignant that is actuated or characterized by virulent ill will or extreme malevolence{tested in the crucible of a malignant marriage— Hewes
}{a great temptation to . . . insist that the lack of relation between what happens and what is supposed to happen is due to some spell or enchantment laid by a malignant magician— Muggeridge
}{his cold, malignant rage— L. P. Smith
}A person or thing is malign (see also SINISTER) that harbors violent enmity or ill will or threatens extreme evil or danger; the term, in contrast with malignant, carries a stronger implication of potentiality and therefore need not suggest certainty of effect{a soul that spurns the crowd's malign control— Gifford
}{by fiends of aspect more malign— Wordsworth
}Spiteful implies a deep-seated malice or malevolence provoked especially by a desire to get even with others for real or fancied offenses; it suggests meanness or venomousness of temper and refers more often to utterances than to acts{spiteful gossip
}{she has a spiteful tongue
}{a spiteful saying gratifies so many little passions— Addison
}{"Well," said Mr. Potter, who was not spiteful to his children, and preferred his wife unruffled, "We'll let you off this time"— Rose Macaulay
}Analogous words: *poisonous, venomous, virulent, toxic: *pernicious, noxious, baneful, deleterious, detrimental: *envious, jealous: wanton, gratuitous, uncalled-for, *supererogatory
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.