malevolent

[muh-lev-uh-luhnt]

adjective

1. wishing evil or harm to another or others; showing ill will; ill-disposed; malicious.

   His failures made him malevolent toward those who were successful.

2. evil; harmful; injurious.

   a malevolent inclination to destroy the happiness of others.

3. Astrology.,  evil or malign in influence.

malevolent

/ məˈlɛvələnt /

adjective

1. wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; malicious

2. astrology having an evil influence

Other Word Forms

• malevolence noun
• malevolently adverb
• unmalevolent adjective
• unmalevolently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of malevolent¹

First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin malevolent-, stem of malevolēns “ill-disposed, spiteful,” from male- male- + volēns “wanting” (present participle of velle “to want, wish for, desire”; will ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of malevolent¹

C16: from Latin malevolens, from male ill + volens, present participle of velle to wish

Example Sentences

Nothing that’s happened on any of the network’s shows in the last decade has come close to matching the unconsciously malevolent nonsense of this one-off series.

From Salon

But opining that late-night’s problems could be solved by its hosts taking up fiddling instead of calling attention to the malevolent arsonists setting fire to the nation only proves Leno hasn’t looked around much lately.

From Salon

At another level, it’s a malevolent expression of white privilege.

From Los Angeles Times

"Creating the space where a malevolent actor could have done almost whatever they wanted."

From BBC

With the franchise officially out of ideas, how about skipping to “Jurassic Park: One Million Years A.D.” so a futuristic species can resurrect us for some malevolent fun and games?

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• malicious 
• malignant 
• murderous 
• sinister 
• vengeful 
• vicious 
• wicked