Malevolent — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; arising from intense ill will or hatred

having or exerting a malignant influence

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/məlˈɛvələnt/

🇬🇧British English

/məlˈɛvələnt/

🇮🇳Indian English

/məlˈɛvələnt/

4 syllables Say it as /məlˈɛvələnt/.

Examples

a gossipy malevolent old woman
failure made him malevolent toward those who were successful
malevolent stars

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

malign evil malefic

Parts of Speech

adjective	wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; arising from intense ill will or hatred “a gossipy malevolent old woman”
adjective	having or exerting a malignant influence “malevolent stars”

Word Forms

malevolence	noun	wishing evil to others
malevolency	noun	the quality of threatening evil
malignity	noun	quality of being disposed to evil; intense ill will

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

böswillig

anderen Böses wünschen oder den Anschein erwecken, etwas Böses zu wünschen; aus starkem Böswillen oder Hass entstehen

🇫🇷French

malveillant

souhaiter ou paraître souhaiter du mal aux autres ; résultant d'une mauvaise volonté ou d'une haine intense

🇪🇸Spanish

malévolo

desear o parecer desear el mal a otros; que surge de una intensa mala voluntad u odio

🇮🇹Italian

malevolo

desiderare o sembrare volere il male agli altri; derivanti da intensa malevolenza o odio

🇳🇱Dutch

kwaadwillig

kwaad willen of lijken te wensen tegenover anderen; voortkomend uit intense kwade wil of haat

🇵🇹Portuguese

malévolo

desejar ou parecer desejar o mal aos outros; decorrente de intensa má vontade ou ódio

🇷🇺Russian

злобный

желание или видимость желания зла другим; возникающие из-за сильной недоброжелательности или ненависти

India

🇮🇳Hindi

द्रोही

दूसरों का बुरा चाहने की इच्छा करना या प्रकट होना; तीव्र दुर्भावना या घृणा से उत्पन्न होना

🇧🇩Bengali

দূষিত

অন্যদের মন্দ কামনা করতে ইচ্ছা করা বা প্রদর্শিত হওয়া; তীব্র অসুস্থ ইচ্ছা বা ঘৃণা থেকে উদ্ভূত

🇮🇳Tamil

தீங்கிழைக்கும்

மற்றவர்களுக்கு தீமையை விரும்புவது அல்லது தோன்றுவது; தீவிரமான மனநோய் அல்லது வெறுப்பிலிருந்து எழுகிறது

🇮🇳Telugu

దుర్మార్గమైన

ఇతరులకు చెడు కోరుకోవడం లేదా కనిపించడం; తీవ్రమైన అనారోగ్యం లేదా ద్వేషం నుండి ఉత్పన్నమవుతుంది

🇮🇳Marathi

द्वेषपूर्ण

इतरांच्या वाईटाची इच्छा करणे किंवा दिसणे; तीव्र दुर्दम्य इच्छा किंवा द्वेषातून उद्भवणारे

🇮🇳Gujarati

દુષ્ટ

ઈચ્છવું અથવા અન્ય લોકો માટે અનિષ્ટની ઇચ્છા દર્શાવવી; તીવ્ર ખરાબ ઇચ્છા અથવા તિરસ્કારથી ઉદ્ભવે છે

🇮🇳Kannada

ದುರುದ್ದೇಶಪೂರಿತ

ಇತರರಿಗೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟದ್ದನ್ನು ಬಯಸುವುದು ಅಥವಾ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು; ತೀವ್ರವಾದ ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಇಚ್ಛೆ ಅಥವಾ ದ್ವೇಷದಿಂದ ಉಂಟಾಗುತ್ತದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ദ്രോഹകരമായ

മറ്റുള്ളവർക്ക് തിന്മ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുകയോ പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെടുകയോ ചെയ്യുക; തീവ്രമായ ഇച്ഛാശക്തിയിൽ നിന്നോ വിദ്വേഷത്തിൽ നിന്നോ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നതാണ്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਦੁਰਾਚਾਰੀ

ਦੂਜਿਆਂ ਲਈ ਬੁਰਾਈ ਦੀ ਇੱਛਾ ਕਰਨਾ ਜਾਂ ਦਿਖਾਈ ਦੇਣਾ; ਤੀਬਰ ਬਿਮਾਰ ਇੱਛਾ ਜਾਂ ਨਫ਼ਰਤ ਤੋਂ ਪੈਦਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

بدتمیز

دوسروں کی برائی کی خواہش کرنا یا ظاہر کرنا؛ شدید بیمار خواہش یا نفرت سے پیدا ہوتا ہے۔

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

恶毒的

希望或看似希望他人遭祸；源于强烈的恶意或仇恨

🇯🇵Japanese

悪意のある

他人に悪いことを望む、または望むように見えること。激しい悪意や憎しみから生じる

🇰🇷Korean

악의 있는

다른 사람에게 해를 끼치기를 바라거나 바라는 것처럼 보이는 것, 강렬한 악의나 증오로 인해 발생

🇻🇳Vietnamese

ác tâm

mong muốn hoặc có vẻ muốn điều ác cho người khác; phát sinh từ ác ý hoặc sân hận mãnh liệt

🇹🇭Thai

มุ่งร้าย

ประสงค์หรือปรากฏประสงค์ร้ายต่อผู้อื่น เกิดจากความมุ่งร้ายหรือความเกลียดชังอันรุนแรง

🇮🇩Indonesian

jahat

berharap atau tampak menginginkan kejahatan terhadap orang lain; timbul dari niat buruk atau kebencian yang kuat

🇵🇭Filipino

masamang hangarin

nagnanais o lumilitaw na nagnanais ng masama sa iba; na nagmumula sa matinding masamang kalooban o poot

🇲🇾Malay

jahat

berhajat atau kelihatan mendoakan kejahatan kepada orang lain; timbul dari niat jahat atau kebencian yang kuat

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

خبيث

الرغبة في الشر للآخرين أو الظهور بمظهرهم؛ الناشئة عن سوء النية أو الكراهية الشديدة

🇮🇷Persian

بدخواه

آرزو کردن یا ظاهراً آرزوی بدی برای دیگران؛ ناشی از بدخواهی یا نفرت شدید

🇹🇷Turkish

kötü niyetli

başkalarına kötülük dilemek veya diliyormuş gibi görünmek; yoğun kötü niyet veya nefretten kaynaklanan

🇮🇱Hebrew

מְרוּשָׁע

רצון או נראה כמבקש רע לאחרים; הנובעים מרצון עז או משנאה

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'malevolent'?

The primary meaning of 'malevolent' is 'wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; arising from intense ill will or hatred'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'malevolent' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'malevolent' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'malevolent' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'malevolent' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'malevolent' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'malevolent' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'malevolent' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'malevolent' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'malevolent' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'malevolent' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted