maliciousma‧li‧cious /məˈlɪʃəs/ adjective 
a malicious girlmalicious gossip/rumour Who is responsible for these malicious rumours?► see thesaurus at unkind—maliciously adverb—maliciousness noun [uncountable]
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- 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.''
- 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.
THESAURUS
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
especially spoken unkind: · Don’t be mean to your sister!· It was a mean thing to do.
deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy: · He said some really nasty things before he left.· a nasty man
unkind – used about remarks and actions: · Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.· Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
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).
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.
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
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
Longman Language Activatordeliberately cruel in order to upset someone deliberately cruel and unkind to someone because you really want to upset them and enjoy doing so: · 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'.
deliberately nasty to someone in order to hurt or upset them, especially because you are jealous of them or are angry with them: · On the rare occasions when he was angry, Lowry could be spiteful and petty.spiteful to: · You shouldn't be so spiteful to your sister.· I tried to like Julie but I couldn't forget how spiteful she'd been to me in the past.
a feeling of wanting to hurt or upset other people by saying or doing cruel things, especially if you feel jealous or think you have been unfairly treated: · Gerald's feelings of injustice turned to bitterness and spite.pure/sheer spite (=spite and nothing else): · Ignore what Martin says. It's pure spite.out of spite (=because of spite): · She quit college and worked as a waitress out of spite towards her parents.
deliberately cruel and unfair because you want to harm someone who has harmed you: · "I'll pay her back for this.'' "Don't be so vindictive. It doesn't help anyone.''· Doug could be nasty and vindictive when he was drinking.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Who is responsible for these malicious rumours?COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
very unkind and cruel, and deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset or hurt someone: Who is responsible for these malicious rumours? (=unkind gossip that is likely to upset someone)· Has someone been spreading malicious gossip?
(=a false one that someone spreads to make trouble)· The claims were dismissed by the government as ‘malicious rumours’.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· 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.
· 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.
· Jotan's daughter, the sister of Jehan, was the source of as much malicious gossip as he was himself.
a malicious girlmalicious gossip/rumour Who is responsible for these malicious rumours?► see thesaurus at unkind—maliciously adverb—maliciousness noun [uncountable]