mal-

¹

1. a combining form meaning “bad,” “wrongful,” “ill,” occurring originally in loanwords from French ( malapert ); on this model, used in the formation of other words ( malfunction; malcontent ).

Mal.

²

abbreviation for

1. Bible. Malachi.
2. Malayan.

MAL

¹

abbreviation for

1. Malaysia (international car registration)

Mal.

²

abbreviation for

1. Bible Malachi
2. Malay(an)

mal-

³

combining_form

1. bad or badly; wrong or wrongly; imperfect or defective

   malfunction

   maladjusted

Word History and Origins

Origin of mal-¹

Middle English < Old French, representing mal adv. (< Latin male badly, ill) and adj. (< Latin malus bad)

Word History and Origins

Origin of mal-¹

Old French, from Latin malus bad, male badly

Example Sentences

“Her sensitivity was so engaging and so strong that the song was created very quickly. We wrote it in the space of a few hours. For some songs, like ‘El Mal,’ we had dozens of different versions.

From Los Angeles Times

On the other end is “El Mal,” a driving condemnation of the terrible people — murderers, corrupt politicians — contributing to the onetime drug lord’s charity aiming to locate the remains of cartel victims.

From Los Angeles Times

Ducol says, “What I like in ‘El Mal’ is that we are talking about things that are quite harsh, and all of a sudden, we find ourselves before a true musical number, and we understand we are no longer in reality-based cinema.

From Los Angeles Times

“Coaching has that image of obsessed men driven to a point where they’ll destroy their lives,” he told The Times’ Mal Florence in 1981.

From Los Angeles Times

Musicals — good ones, imaginative ones, like “Emilia Pérez” — have a way of rocketing underappreciated talents into the stratosphere and, in a sequence like the hard-edged, dazzlingly choreographed “El Mal” number, in which she slices a scorn-filled path across a gala benefit of rich hypocrites, it’s easy to believe Saldaña could be the most versatile screen actor around.

From Los Angeles Times