maleficent

[ muh-lef-uh-suhnt ]

adjective

1. doing evil or harm; harmfully malicious:

   maleficent destroyers of reputations.

maleficent

/ məˈlɛfɪsənt /

adjective

1. causing or capable of producing evil or mischief; harmful or baleful

Derived Forms

• maˈleficence, noun
• maˈlefic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of maleficent¹

1670–80; back formation from Latin maleficentia maleficence; -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of maleficent¹

C17: from Latin maleficent-, from maleficus wicked, prone to evil, from malum evil

Example Sentences

In the early “Crow” from 1988, a half-dressed man touches the forehead of another man as if feeling for signs of fever as a black bird wings toward them like a maleficent angel.

From New York Times

In “Plymouth Point,” you and your friends must unravel a sprawling, maleficent conspiracy by summoning all your combined wits and the internet’s resources to crack passwords, solve riddles and search social media.

From New York Times

Mind you, his purpose is deadly serious: “to discover . . . the causes and beginnings of certain maleficent qualities in the American character,” as he puts it.

From Washington Post

Then there’s the possibly eternal, surely maleficent, fountain producing black water that makes its drinkers lose all sense of identity and memory to basically become livestock.

From New York Times

“Publicly, they say the right things, expressing approval and joining in the chorus of voices that applaud the takedown of maleficent characters who prey on vulnerable women in the workplace,” she wrote.

From The Guardian

Related Words

• damaging
• dangerous
• deadly
• destructive
• detrimental
• devastating
• harmful
• lethal
• malicious
• nefarious
• noxious
• poisonous
• ruinous
• toxic
• virulent