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# malevolent

«malevolent» in Mova's school dictionary: **Wanting to do harm or evil to others; full of hate and spite** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (malevolent, more malevolent, most malevolent)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Wanting to do harm or evil to others; full of hate and spite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#m1)

2) (in stories) Seeming evil and threatening: «a malevolent stare». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, «malevolent» describes villains, witches, evil spirits or a dark, threatening atmosphere: «a malevolent grin». It tells the reader that someone wants to hurt others on purpose. It is a strong, slightly formal word, good for creative writing. Opposite: «benevolent» (kind, wanting to do good). Phrases: «a malevolent spirit», «malevolent eyes».

### examples

- The malevolent witch wanted to poison the princess. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x1)
- A malevolent grin spread across the villain's face. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x2)
- The old house had a malevolent feeling, as if something was watching. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x3)
- The dragon gave him a malevolent stare. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x4)
- In the story, a malevolent spirit haunted the mill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x5)
- He wasn't malevolent, just careless. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x6)
- The storm clouds looked malevolent and dark. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x7)
- Benevolent kings help people; malevolent ones harm them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x8)
- Before taking leave of the Baba Yaga, we may glance at a malevolent monster, who seems to be her male counterpart. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/#x9)

### note

Adjective; noun «malevolence», adverb «malevolently». «Mal-» means bad (as in malfunction, malpractice); «bene-» means good (benevolent). Stronger than «mean» or «unkind». Not a maths word.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «malevolent» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malevolent/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.