I. ˈmalə̇s noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin malitia, from malus bad — more at small
1.
a.
(1) : intention or desire to harm another usually seriously through doing something unlawful or otherwise unjustified : willfulness in the commission of a wrong : evil intention
ruined her reputation and did it with malice
rejoiced out of pure malice in seeing others suffer
— compare implied malice , malice aforethought , malice in fact
(2) : conscious and deliberate transgression especially of a moral code viewed as established by God accompanied by an evil intention
theologians hold that the gravity of an offense against divine law depends on the degree of malice involved
(3) : revengeful or unfriendly feelings : ill will , enmity
in spite of all he has had to put up with from them, he bears them no malice
b. : sportive intention or desire to discomfit others (as by teasing or joking) : playful mischievousness
with smiling malice asked her where she had been
2. obsolete
a. : badness ; especially : wickedness
b. : harmfulness
Synonyms:
malevolence , ill will , spite , despite , malignancy , malignity , spleen , grudge : malice may apply either to a deep-seated, often unjustified, innate desire to bring pain and suffering to others or to enjoy contemplating it or to a passing impish mischievousness not arising from a hardened vindictive nature
from such persons no repentance was to be looked for. They were impelled by a malice or a fanaticism which clemency could not touch or reason influence — J.A.Froude
she was clever, witty, brilliant, and sparkling beyond most of her kind; but possessed of many devils of malice and mischievousness — Rudyard Kipling
malevolence may suggest a cold deep hatred or enmity underlying wishes for evil for others
their society is organized by a permanent, universal animosity and malevolence; sullen suspicion and resentment are their chief motives, ill will and treachery their chief virtues — H.J.Muller
ill will may suggest a feeling of enmity, antipathy, or resentment directed against a person or thing, often with cause; it differs from malevolence in not implying a lasting character trait
Catherine could not believe it possible that any injury or any misfortune could provoke such ill will against a person not connected, or, at least, not supposed to be connected with it — Jane Austen
spite suggests petty ill will and mean envy and resentment
a man full of the secret spite of dullness, who interrupted from time to time, and always to check or disorder thought — W.B.Yeats
despite , now not common, may imply more pride and disdain but less pettiness than spite
not in despite but softly, as men smile about the dead — G.K.Chesterton
malignancy and malignity imply deep passion and relentless driving force
employed by the envy, jealousy and malignity of his enemies, to ruin him with the queen — Hilaire Belloc
he is cruel with the cruelty of petrified feeling, to his poor heroine; he pursues her without pity or pause, as with malignity — Matthew Arnold
blinded by malignancy against the class of manual worker — Cecil Sprigge
spleen indicates choleric ill will with wrathful release of latent spite
his just fame was long obscured by partisan spleen — V.L.Parrington
venting their spleen against the United States in so venomous a manner — T.R.Fyvel
grudge suggests cherished ill will with deep resentment at a real or imagined slight, affront, humiliation, or other cause of chagrin
she had never been close to Uncle Claude and had held a grudge against him for ending her companionship with Ralph — Jean Stafford
the secret grudges that the relations of men whom he had killed or dishonored bore against him — Robert Graves
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
obsolete : to regard with malice
intransitive verb
obsolete : to harbor or cherish malice