Malicious and malevolent are close in meaning, since both refer to ill will that desires to see someone else suffer. But while malevolent suggests deep and lasting dislike, malicious usually means petty …

MALICIOUS definition: 1. intended to harm or upset other people: 2. intended to cause damage to a computer system, or to…. Learn more.

Malicious definition: full of, characterized by, or showing malice; intentionally harmful; spiteful.. See examples of MALICIOUS used in a sentence.

If you describe someone's words or actions as malicious, you mean that they are intended to harm people or their reputation, or cause them embarrassment and upset.

1. Having the nature of or resulting from malice; deliberately harmful; spiteful: malicious gossip. 2. Law Done with malice.

Definition of malicious adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Sep 11, 2025 · malicious (comparative more malicious, superlative most malicious) He was sent off for a malicious tackle on Jones.

Malware (a portmanteau of malicious software) [1] is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain …

desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness: the malice and spite of a lifelong enemy. Law evil intent on the part of a person …

Malicious is the adjective based on the noun malice, which means the desire to harm others. Both words come from the Latin word malus, for bad. If someone is malicious he doesn't just make bad things …