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Added 8 October 2026

malicious

/məˈlɪʃəs/ adjective

Latin root: malitiōsus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about malicious at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Having the nature of or resulting from malice.
malicious gossip

Origin

From Middle English malicious, from Old French malicios, from Latin malitiōsus, from malitia (“malice”), from malus (“bad”). Displaced native Middle English ivelwilled and ivelwilly (“malicious”), related to Old English yfelwillende (literally “evil-willing”). By surface analysis, malice + -ious.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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