malevolent
adjective
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On the Origin of Malevolent
That malevolent begins with male- does not imply any connection with gender. The word's initial component comes ultimately from the Latin adverb male "badly"; English male "a man or a boy," by contrast, descends from the unrelated Latin noun masculus "male." Malevolent was taken into English directly from the Latin malevolens "ill-disposed, spiteful," which paired male with volens, the present participle of a verb meaning "to wish." In Latin, the combination literally meant "wishing ill." The "wishing" component of malevolent may also be found in its antonym benevolent "kind and generous" (from Latin benevolens, literally, "wishing well") and in a rare English word, somnivolency ("a sleep-inducing agent"), in which it is yoked with somni- "sleep" (from Latin somnus) in a compound literally meaning "inclination to sleep."
Examples of malevolent in a Sentence
Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008
The sky looks heavy enough to sink and crush us when we see another twister bullying across the fields—a squat, malevolent-looking wedge.
—Priit J. Vesilind, National Geographic, April 2004
No bigger than most house cats, it is possessed of such formidable armor and malevolent mien that when the makers of the latest Godzilla epic went looking for a prototype, they selected this lizard …
—Peter Benchley, National Geographic, April 1999
The predominant spirit is very un-American; a kind of malevolent, drifting determinism pervades human beings who cannot, or do not want to, cope.
—John Fowles, Atlantic, August 1986
the novel grossly oversimplified the conflict as a struggle between relentlessly malevolent villains on one side and faultless saints on the other
Zac Ntim, Deadline, 22 July 2025
Internet wags have wondered whether Gunn’s kindliness extends to malevolent immigrants like General Zod.
—Armond White, National Review, 18 July 2025
When Krypto attacks Lex in the grand finale, though, and breaks the arm of the malevolent tech billionaire?
—Darren Franich, Vulture, 16 July 2025
Yet, his performance is a bit overshadowed by the impact of Robert De Niro as Ernest's malevolent uncle and particularly Lily Gladstone as his wife, Mollie, who sees her entire family decimated and nearly becomes a victim herself.
—Derek Lawrence, EW.com, 13 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for malevolent
Cite this Entry
“Malevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malevolent. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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malevolent
adjective
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