as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the novel grossly oversimplified the conflict as a struggle between relentlessly malevolent villains on one side and faultless saints on the other
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Recent Examples of malevolent
Fear may thrive in the shadows, but here, under bright fluorescent lights, the terror feels even more malevolent, something ambient and inescapable.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2026
When faced with an intractable problem, or with a person or movement that is malevolent in its very nature, fundamental rupture and daring rejection is required.
—David Brooks, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026
Their agencies — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the WHO — were unreliable and often malevolent.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
This saga is almost a perfect encapsulation of the administration, which somehow manages to be both malevolent and incompetent, highly disorganized while still doing a lot of damage.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2026
When faced with an intractable problem, or with a person or movement that is malevolent in its very nature, fundamental rupture and daring rejection is required.
—David Brooks, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026
Their agencies — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the WHO — were unreliable and often malevolent.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
This saga is almost a perfect encapsulation of the administration, which somehow manages to be both malevolent and incompetent, highly disorganized while still doing a lot of damage.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malevolent
Adjective
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The 31-year-old man was charged Wednesday with malicious destruction of property and possessing substances to operate a meth lab.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
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Court records show that 31-year-old Xin Tong was charged with malicious destruction of a building over $20,000 and operating/maintaining a lab involving methamphetamine.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The betrayal of Zambada sparked a vicious battle for control of the Sinaloa cartel that has resulted in thousands of deaths.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
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Back in 2023, he was suspended during the playoffs for a vicious cross-check to the head of Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Even his students can be casually cruel to each other, emulating a president that Artie almost cannot fathom.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
2 May 2026
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Baseball is a sport built on failure surrounded by a cruel, cynical business, but this level of irony is almost too rich to digest.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
Adjective
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An investigation is underway into hateful graffiti in a Long Island neighborhood.—
Jenna DeAngelis,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
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His humor is far more hateful than clever at this point.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malevolent. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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