Meaning & use
malicious look
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
a glance that shows you want to hurt or upset someone
Grammar: Countable: use an or a before it, and add -s for more than one: a malicious look, several malicious looks.
Patterns
- give someone a malicious look
- a malicious look at someone
- with a malicious look
She gave me a malicious look when I sat in her seat.
He shot a malicious look at the referee after the whistle.
I could feel a malicious look on my back as I left the room.
phrasecountable
an expression on someone's face that seems to wish another person harm
Grammar: Often used with have or wear when you describe what is on someone's face: she had a malicious look about her.
Patterns
- have a malicious look on your face
- wear a malicious look
He had a malicious look on his face when he heard the news.
For a moment a malicious look crossed her face, then she smiled again.
Word forms
| plural | malicious looks |
|---|
Common combinations
- give someone a malicious look
- The boy gave his sister a malicious look and hid her book.
- shoot someone a malicious look
- She shot him a malicious look across the table.
- a malicious look on someone's face
- There was a malicious look on his face as he read the message.
- a look of pure malice
- He stared at her with a look of pure malice.
- an evil look
- My mother gave me an evil look when I came home late.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dirty look
- Much more informal and used in everyday speech; it suggests annoyance or anger rather than a wish to harm.
- glare
- A single long, angry stare; it focuses on the stare itself, while a malicious look focuses on the unkind intention behind it.
- evil look
- Similar in tone but a little stronger and more dramatic; often used when someone seems truly wicked.
Opposites
Word family
- maliciously adverb
- in a way that shows a wish to hurt someone: she smiled maliciously.
- malicious adjective
- wanting to hurt or upset someone: a malicious rumor.
- malice noun
- the wish to harm someone: he acted out of pure malice.
Commonly confused: malicious look or malignant? malicious look or maladjusted?
malicious look vs malignant
A medical word meaning dangerous and spreading, used of tumors; it is not used for looks or people's intentions.
malicious look vs maladjusted
Means unable to deal with people or life, and starts with the same sounds; it describes a person's state, not a glance.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is a countable noun phrase, so it needs the article a: a malicious look. Option 1 uses the adverb maliciously where an adjective is needed, option 2 uses the noun malice as if it were an adjective, and option 3 is missing the article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “malicious look”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.