Meaning & use
malefic
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableliterary
Wishing or tending to do harm; having an evil influence.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a malefic spirit, the omen was malefic.
Patterns
- a malefic influence
- a malefic force
The villain's malefic gaze made the villagers shiver.
They believed a malefic spirit lived in the old well.
He sensed something malefic in the silence of the house.
adjectivebefore a nounspecialist
In astrology, describing a planet or aspect thought to bring bad luck or trouble.
Grammar: Used before a noun in astrology: a malefic planet.
Patterns
- a malefic planet
- a malefic aspect
Mars and Saturn are called malefic planets in traditional astrology.
The astrologer warned that a malefic aspect would affect the month.
Common combinations
- malefic influence
- The ruler's advisor exerted a malefic influence on the court.
- malefic force
- A malefic force seemed to guide the storm.
- malefic intent
- His smile hid a malefic intent.
- malefic planet
- Saturn is a malefic planet in some traditions.
- malefic spell
- A malefic spell fell on the sleeping kingdom.
Synonyms and how they differ
- malevolent
- Malevolent is the more common word for wishing harm on others, while malefic is rarer and often sounds supernatural.
- baleful
- Baleful suggests menace or threat, often in a look, whereas malefic stresses a harmful influence.
- sinister
- Sinister suggests something that seems evil or threatening without proof, and is used far more widely than malefic.
- evil
- Evil is the plain, strong everyday word, but malefic is more literary and pointed at harmful power or effect.
Opposites
Word family
- maleficence noun
- the quality of causing harm
- maleficent adjective
- harmful or evil, a more common variant
- malevolent adjective
- wishing to do harm to others
- malediction noun
- a curse
Commonly confused: malefic or malevolent?
malefic vs malevolent
Malevolent describes a person's ill will, while malefic is more about the harmful power or influence something carries.
Practice
In traditional astrology, a malefic planet is one that is believed to ____.
Choose one answer.
Malefic means harmful or causing evil, so a malefic planet is thought to cause trouble. Good fortune is the sense of benefic, its opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “malefic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.