English Meaning & Definitions
The quality, state, or characteristic of being motivated by an intention to cause harm, pain, or suffering to another person without justification.
- “The sheer maliciousness of the anonymous online comments shocked the community.”
- “She acted not out of ignorance, but with a deliberate maliciousness designed to ruin his reputation.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “maliciousness”.
Derived from Middle English 'malicious', originating from Old French 'malicios', and ultimately from the Latin 'maliciosus', meaning spiteful or wicked. This stems from 'malitia' (badness, ill will) and 'malus' (bad, evil), combined with the suffix '-ness', which forms abstract nouns of state or quality from adjectives.
Think of 'mal' (which means bad, as in 'malfunction' or 'malice') combined with 'icious' to remember a vicious intent to cause harm.
Frequently Asked Questions About “maliciousness”
1. What is the meaning of “maliciousness” in English?
In English, maliciousness (noun) is defined as: “The quality, state, or characteristic of being motivated by an intention to cause harm, pain, or suffering to another person without justification.”.
2. How do you use “maliciousness” in a sentence?
“The sheer maliciousness of the anonymous online comments shocked the community.”
3. What are English synonyms of “maliciousness”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “maliciousness”?
Derived from Middle English 'malicious', originating from Old French 'malicios', and ultimately from the Latin 'maliciosus', meaning spiteful or wicked. This stems from 'malitia' (badness, ill will) and 'malus' (bad, evil), combined with the suffix '-ness', which forms abstract nouns of state or quality from adjectives.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →A measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.