wishing evil or harm to others; having or showing ill will; malicious
Origin of malevolent
Old French malivolent from Classical Latin malevolens (gen. malevolentis) from male, evil (see mal-) + volens, present participle of velle, to wish: see will
adjective
Malevolent is defined as someone or something that is harmful or evil.
An example of someone malevolent is the wicked queen in the story of Snow White.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"malevolent." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent>.
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malevolent. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent
malevolent
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"malevolent." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent>.
APA Style
malevolent. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent
malevolent
adjective
- Having or exhibiting ill will; wishing harm to others; malicious.
- Having a harmful influence: malevolent stars.
Origin of malevolent
Latin malevolēns malevolent-; see malevolence .Related Forms:
- ma·lev′o·lent·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"malevolent." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent>.
APA Style
malevolent. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent
Adjective
(comparative more malevolent, superlative most malevolent)
- having or displaying ill will; wishing harm on others
- having an evil or harmful influence
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"malevolent." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent>.
APA Style
malevolent. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/malevolent
Sentence Examples
- Now I recalled every detail of that meeting and in my mind gave him the most malevolent and bitter replies.
- If Lancaster should justify the malevolent rumours that were afloat by making a snatch at the crown, the last state of the realm might be worse than the first.
- Gossip is hurtful and mean, and cannot be described as anything but malevolent.
- Detective Digby was determined to thwart the schemes of the malevolent criminal.
- Very rarely do I meet a human being who is as malevolent as my cousin Bob.
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WORDS NEAR malevolent IN THE DICTIONARY
- malevolent
- malevolently
- malevolous
- maleware