malevolent

adjective

ma·​lev·​o·​lent mə-ˈle-və-lənt 

1

: having, showing, or arising from intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred

2

: productive of harm or evil

malevolently adverb

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On the Origin of Malevolent

That malevolent begins with male- does not imply any connection with gender. The word's initial component comes ultimately from the Latin adverb male "badly"; English male "a man or a boy," by contrast, descends from the unrelated Latin noun masculus "male." Malevolent was taken into English directly from the Latin malevolens "ill-disposed, spiteful," which paired male with volens, the present participle of a verb meaning "to wish." In Latin, the combination literally meant "wishing ill." The "wishing" component of malevolent may also be found in its antonym benevolent "kind and generous" (from Latin benevolens, literally, "wishing well") and in a rare English word, somnivolency ("a sleep-inducing agent"), in which it is yoked with somni- "sleep" (from Latin somnus) in a compound literally meaning "inclination to sleep."

Synonyms

• bad [slang]
• bitchy
• catty
• cruel
• despiteful
• hateful
• malicious
• malign
• malignant
• mean
• nasty
• spiteful
• vicious
• virulent

Examples of malevolent in a Sentence

There was no acknowledgment of the effects of cycle upon cycle of malevolent defeat, of the injury of seeing one generation rise above the cusp of poverty only to be indignantly crushed, of the impact of repeating tsunamis of violence … —Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008

The sky looks heavy enough to sink and crush us when we see another twister bullying across the fields—a squat, malevolent-looking wedge. —Priit J. Vesilind, National Geographic, April 2004

No bigger than most house cats, it is possessed of such formidable armor and malevolent mien that when the makers of the latest Godzilla epic went looking for a prototype, they selected this lizard … —Peter Benchley, National Geographic, April 1999

The predominant spirit is very un-American; a kind of malevolent, drifting determinism pervades human beings who cannot, or do not want to, cope. —John Fowles, Atlantic, August 1986

the novel grossly oversimplified the conflict as a struggle between relentlessly malevolent villains on one side and faultless saints on the other

Recent Examples on the Web

Legacy ended with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) from the original film, preventing the digital world from bleeding into the real world, as planned by the Grid's malevolent ruling program, Clu. —ArsTechnica, 5 Apr. 2025

The reality is that there are malevolent elites who exist—individuals who seek to consolidate their power and wealth by dismantling the state, the very system of laws and accountability that once kept them in check. —Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025

And what was the House Un-American Activities Committee but one big, malevolent exercise in gossip-mongering? —Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025

On the flip side of things, Hopkins brings a malevolent gravitas to William, calling on his iconic tenure as Hannibal Lecter to play the car’s vindictive and psychopathic owner. —Josh Weiss, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin malevolent-, malevolens, from male badly + volent-, volens, present participle of velle to wish — more at mal-, will

First Known Use

1509, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for malevolent

• benevolent
• prevalent

Kids Definition

malevolent

adjective

ma·​lev·​o·​lent mə-ˈlev-ə-lənt 

: having or showing ill will : spiteful

malevolently adverb