as in vicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the neighborhood chatterbox has again been spreading malicious gossip
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Recent Examples of malicious
For one, adversarial attacks designed to mislead AI models can be used by malicious actors to misclassify data.
—
Connie Etemadi, Miami Herald, 28 Jan. 2026
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump administration officials have zeroed in on that fact, with FBI Director Kash Patel even suggesting over the weekend the presence of a gun at a rally could be evidence of malicious intent.
—Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 27 Jan. 2026
Yamagami won sympathy from people skeptical of church Yamagami’s case and his descriptions of his childhood brought attention to other children of Unification Church adherents, and influenced a law meant to restrict malicious donation solicitations by religious and other groups.
—Mari Yamaguchi, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Connie Etemadi, Miami Herald, 28 Jan. 2026
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump administration officials have zeroed in on that fact, with FBI Director Kash Patel even suggesting over the weekend the presence of a gun at a rally could be evidence of malicious intent.
—Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 27 Jan. 2026
Yamagami won sympathy from people skeptical of church Yamagami’s case and his descriptions of his childhood brought attention to other children of Unification Church adherents, and influenced a law meant to restrict malicious donation solicitations by religious and other groups.
—Mari Yamaguchi, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for malicious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malicious
Adjective
-
That contraction represents a vicious cycle.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Benedict doesn’t realize that the woman who has entirely captured his attention is Sophie, the maid for the formidable Araminta Gun (Katie Leung), aka Lady Penwood and her daughters, the vicious and self-absorbed Rosamund Li (Michelle Mao) and the sweet but simple Posy Li (Isabella Wei).—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Moon is at odds with three planets, which can trigger arguments, snide remarks and even cruel retorts.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
25 Jan. 2026
-
An old 4chan meme designed as a cruel caricature has somehow become the face of clueless commentators asking for context.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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This is not the first time that Peacock has taken to social media to ask viewers to refrain from sending hateful messages.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Since 2004, Orange County also has been predominantly nonwhite, but some conservative families, such as Woodward’s, bond over a hateful ideology.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Microsoft took months to fix Remote Desktop disconnection issues, then shipped a Windows Update that wiped out Copilot, and released updates that duplicated the Task Manager and created a nasty system recovery bug.—
Tom Warren,
The Verge,
29 Jan. 2026
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Those might have increased here because of weak data, like the nasty drop in consumer confidence yesterday, or because of the expectation a new Fed chair will be more dovish.—
Kelly Evans,
CNBC,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Desperate migrants are forced to leave Greenland after a malevolent force makes their island uninhabitable.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Jan. 2026
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The deceased individuals who were subjected to corpse-killing were not always once powerful and malevolent, like King Abel.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
If not for Camilla, who’d gone out of her way to take Regina in, even letting her share the bedroom with her and Lalla, the others wouldn’t have welcomed her—not out of spite, no, because none of them were spiteful after all, but out of indifference, selfishness, plain and simple.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
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Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington and Andrew Scott play members of the spiteful holy man’s cult of personality.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
25 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
And interferon-gamma is used against chronic granulomatous disease and a bone disease known as severe malignant osteopetrosis.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Spark excelled in dark humor of a particular British type—apparently presentable people plotting ingeniously malignant crimes (think Roald Dahl)—and combined this with a gift for dry, demimondaine London dialogue in the style of, say, Anthony Powell.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Malicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malicious. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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