Malicious

Intentionally wants or causes harm, distress, or disadvantage to other people.

Malicious means: Intentionally wants or causes harm, distress, or disadvantage to other people. Behavior in practice: Plans retaliation, exploits weakness, or damages another person’s interests because causing harm is itself desired or satisfying. Context for Malicious: The tendency is best understood through repeated behavior across situations, because intention, intensity, timing, and consequences can change how it is experienced. Similar traits for Malicious: spiteful, hateful, vindictive — related qualities that overlap with Malicious while differing in motive, behavior, or intensity. Opposite traits for Malicious: benevolent, kind, well-meaning — useful contrasts showing how behavior or judgment can move in a different direction from Malicious. When Malicious becomes frequent or intense, it can weaken trust, judgment, cooperation, or well-being; one isolated episode, however, is not enough to define a person by this label. To assess Malicious fairly, look for a consistent pattern across time and situations, consider the surrounding context, and avoid defining someone by a single incident.