maleficent

[ muh-lef-uh-suhnt ]
See synonyms for maleficent on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. doing evil or harm; harmfully malicious: maleficent destroyers of reputations.

Origin of maleficent

1
1670–80; back formation from Latin maleficentiamaleficence; see -ent

Words that may be confused with maleficent

Words Nearby maleficent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use maleficent in a sentence

  • The 'monarch,' as he observes, 'is naturally the very worst—the most maleficent member of the whole community.'

  • That maleficent giant can now hardly grin at the pilgrims whom he once harassed.

  • "I consider it less a case of idiocy than one of possession, maleficent possession," replied Crashaw.

    The Wonder | J. D. Beresford
  • It is, of course, no argument against this view that the authors of the Diræ regard Gladstone as a maleficent being.

    In the Wrong Paradise | Andrew Lang
  • The Assyrians looked upon the stars as divinities endued with beneficent or maleficent power.

    Astronomical Myths | John F. Blake

British Dictionary definitions for maleficent

maleficent

/ (məˈlɛfɪsənt) /


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

Origin of maleficent

1
C17: from Latin maleficent-, from maleficus wicked, prone to evil, from malum evil

Derived forms of maleficent

  • malefic, adjective
  • maleficence, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012