Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

malevolent

/məˈlɛvələnt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.92 in modern English

Syllables: malev-o-lent
IPA: /məˈlɛvələnt/

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having or displaying ill will; wishing harm on others.

adj

Having an evil or harmful influence.

Example Sentences

"In Iraq the bullying continued. After she witnessed the death of a colleague, Manning felt how “with enough grief, adrenaline and fear”, war can turn anyone “amoral, even malevolent”."
"Vela, Javier Hernández and Lozano switched positions with a thrillingly malevolent sense of purpose."

Etymology

From Middle English *malevolent (suggested by Middle English malevolence), from Old French malivolent and Latin malevolentem, from male (“badly, wrongly”) + volens (“willing, wishing”), from velle (“to wish”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *welh₁-, *malevolent, malivolent, malevolēns

Inflected Forms

more malevolent (comparative) most malevolent (superlative)

Derived Forms

malevolently omnimalevolent unmalevolent

Frequently Paired Words

malevolence

Synonyms

maleficent malevolent sinister abandoned arrant bad bad apple bad seed baleful scurrilous baneful base

Antonyms

benevolent

Rhymes With

prevalent benevolent

Questions

How do you pronounce malevolent?: The recorded pronunciation is /məˈlɛvələnt/.
What does malevolent mean?: Having or displaying ill will; wishing harm on others.
Where does malevolent come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce malevolent

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “malevolent”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/məˈlɛvələnt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “malevolent”.
Repeat and practice — Say “malevolent” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.