maleficence
noun
ma·lef·i·cence mə-ˈle-fə-sən(t)s 
1
a
: the act of committing harm or evil
b
: a harmful or evil act
2
: the quality or state of being maleficent
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Rayn’s line also features a modernized take on the evil eye amulet, long a symbol of warding off maleficence. 
Malina Saval, Variety, 24 Mar. 2022 Exceptionalism is easily misused, the seedbed upon which hate and maleficence can grow. Parker Richards, The New Republic, 17 Mar. 2022 The director Ryan White’s sensitive presentation and brilliant structure refuses to sensationalize the material, devoting long, haunting stretches of the series to victims’ trauma and institutional maleficence. Jason Bailey, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2020 Much of Christie’s unwaning appeal relies on incongruity—maleficence emerging in the most genteel of contexts, like strychnine in the tea—whereas the Thrombeys make no pretense of decency. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2019 Those opposed argue that helping a patient take her own life profoundly violates the principle of non-maleficence or avoiding harm. Sarah C. Hull, STAT, 8 Nov. 2019 Johnson’s is a quest for the holy under heaven, in a wilderness that has been degraded by the maleficence of God and man. William Giraldi, The Seattle Times, 4 Feb. 2018 See More
Malina Saval, Variety, 24 Mar. 2022 Exceptionalism is easily misused, the seedbed upon which hate and maleficence can grow. Parker Richards, The New Republic, 17 Mar. 2022 The director Ryan White’s sensitive presentation and brilliant structure refuses to sensationalize the material, devoting long, haunting stretches of the series to victims’ trauma and institutional maleficence. Jason Bailey, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2020 Much of Christie’s unwaning appeal relies on incongruity—maleficence emerging in the most genteel of contexts, like strychnine in the tea—whereas the Thrombeys make no pretense of decency. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2019 Those opposed argue that helping a patient take her own life profoundly violates the principle of non-maleficence or avoiding harm. Sarah C. Hull, STAT, 8 Nov. 2019 Johnson’s is a quest for the holy under heaven, in a wilderness that has been degraded by the maleficence of God and man. William Giraldi, The Seattle Times, 4 Feb. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Italian maleficenza, from Latin maleficentia, from maleficus
First Known Use
1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
- semiautobiographies
- semiautobiography
- semiautomated
- semiautomatic
- semiautomatically
- semiautomatics
- semiautonomies
- semiautonomous
- semiaxis
- semibasement
- semibeam
- semibejan
- semibituminous
- semibreve
- semibreves
- semibulls
- semicadence
- semicadences
- semicastrate
- semicastration
- semicell
- semicentenary
- semicentennial
- semicentennials
- semiceremonial