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 malicious Iranian regime is our national enemy.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
-
Under President John Adams, the Federalists sought to eradicate French ideological influence by raising the bar to citizenship, lowering the bar to deportation, and criminalizing malicious criticism of the federal government.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 May 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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But don’t forget, coming with that agenda were the most wild and hateful type of movements … the Ku Klux Klan.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
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An investigation is underway into hateful graffiti in a Long Island neighborhood.—
Jenna DeAngelis,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malevolent. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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