malicious

Từ điển LongMan Dictionary

ma‧li‧cious/məˈlɪʃəs/ adjective
very unkind and cruel, and deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset or hurt someone:
　 ▪ a malicious girl
malicious gossip/rumour
　 ▪ Who is responsible for these malicious rumours?

—maliciously adverb

—maliciousness noun [UNCOUNTABLE]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪unkind treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty :
　 ▪ Children can be very unkind to each other.
　 ▪ a rather unkind remark
▪mean especially spoken unkind :
　 ▪ Don’t be mean to your sister!
　 ▪ It was a mean thing to do.
▪nasty deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy :
　 ▪ He said some really nasty things before he left.
　 ▪ a nasty man
▪hurtful unkind – used about remarks and actions :
　 ▪ Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.
　 ▪ Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
▪spiteful deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them :
　 ▪ The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do.
　 ▪ She watched them with spiteful glee (=pleasure).
▪malicious deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone :
　 ▪ Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him.
　 ▪ There was a malicious smile on her face.
　 ▪ an act of malicious vandalism
　 ▪ The accusations are malicious.
▪unsympathetic not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better :
　 ▪ Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam.
　 ▪ an unsympathetic boss
▪hard-hearted very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings :
　 ▪ Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight?
　 ▪ a hard-hearted businessman

adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a malicious rumour (=a false one that someone spreads to make trouble)
▪ The claims were dismissed by the government as ‘malicious rumours’.
malicious gossip (=unkind gossip that is likely to upset someone)
▪ Has someone been spreading malicious gossip?
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
NOUN
damage
▪ Turning a blind eye to his presence was one thing, he said, but being party to malicious damage quite another.
▪ The possibility of malicious damage should be considered, i.e. computer hacking and viruses.
▪ Their motives were seen as malicious damage or play rather than mental disorder or the settling of grudges.
▪ The current law of malicious damage produced far too erratic and uncertain results.
▪ Only one case of obvious malicious damage was noted.
falsehood
▪ He described the article as grossly defamatory ... and said the case contained the essentials of a malicious falsehood action.
▪ In malicious falsehood the aggrieved, in this case Miss Joyce, must show the Today's comments are false.
▪ Grappelli had to be content with an action for malicious falsehood.
▪ The action for malicious falsehood is much less favourable to plaintiffs than defamation.
▪ Firstly, legal aid is not available for libel, but it may be granted for malicious falsehood.
gossip
▪ Jotan's daughter, the sister of Jehan, was the source of as much malicious gossip as he was himself.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ malicious rumors
▪ Miss Simms took a malicious pleasure in other people's misfortunes.
▪ Mr Jameson dismissed the allegations as malicious rumours.
▪ Nixon's family called Stone's depiction of the late President ''erroneous and malicious.''
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And she specially enjoyed the extra malicious thrill of her husband's frustration.
▪ And why does he stay so long, even as the festivities turn malicious?
▪ Bored dowagers with wisps snuggling on the shoulders, whispering flattery and malicious rumour in their perfectly sculpted ears.
▪ One of the major flaws in the existing system is that the prosecutor has immunity from law suits claiming malicious prosecution.
▪ People are still malicious because they are miserable.
▪ This malicious suggestion drove Cephalus mad with jealousy.