Meaning & use
malice
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Meanings
noununcountable
A feeling of wanting to hurt someone or make them suffer.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'full of malice', not 'a malice'.
Patterns
- malice toward someone
- with malice
- out of malice
He spoke with such malice that everyone in the room felt uncomfortable.
She bore no malice toward the driver who had caused the accident.
The letter was full of malice and intended to wound.
noununcountablelegallaw
In law, the deliberate intention to commit a wrongful act or crime.
Grammar: Often appears in fixed legal phrases like 'malice aforethought'.
Patterns
- malice aforethought
- with malice aforethought
The prosecution must prove malice aforethought to secure a murder conviction.
The charge was reduced because the jury found no malice in his actions.
Legal experts debated whether the defendant acted with malice.
Common combinations
- with malice
- She denied acting with malice and said it was an honest mistake.
- malice aforethought
- The judge explained that malice aforethought means planning to kill.
- pure malice
- His cruel remark was motivated by pure malice.
- bear malice
- I don't bear you any malice, even after what happened.
- malice toward
- He felt no malice toward his critics.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spite
- Spite is a desire to annoy or upset someone, often out of resentment; malice is stronger and more focused on causing real harm.
- hatred
- Hatred is a deep, lasting dislike; malice is the wish to hurt, which may be brief.
- ill will
- Ill will is a general unfriendly feeling; malice suggests an active intention to cause suffering.
Opposites
Word family
- malicious adjective
- Meaning intending to harm or upset others.
- maliciously adverb
- Meaning in a way that shows a wish to harm.
- maliciousness noun
- The quality of being malicious.
Commonly confused: malice or malady?
malice vs malady
Malady means an illness or a serious problem; malice means a wish to harm.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
Malice means wanting to harm someone, so 'ruin his reputation' fits. The other options describe good intentions, which contradict the meaning of malice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “malice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.