Malice

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmælɪs/

Definitions

1. Intention or desire to cause harm, injury, or suffering to another person
2. A disposition characterized by the intention to harm others or cause them distress exists where an individual holds malevolent feelings or wishes for another's downfall
3. The feeling or intention to inflict harm or cause suffering on someone else

Etymology: Latin "malitia" meant "badness" or "bad quality" in a broad sense, and it carried the sense of ill-will and spite as well. The Latin root "malus," meaning "bad," is also the source of many English words that gesture toward wrongdoing, such as "malign" and "malady." Through Old French "malice," the word reached Middle English, where it kept that core idea of a deliberate wish to see someone else suffer. Notice how the word kept its moral weight across centuries: "malice" was never simply a neutral quality of being bad, but always a settled desire to hurt. That focus on intent is what separates it from clumsy or accidental harm, and it is why the word still sits at the heart of legal and everyday talk about wrongdoing.

Synonyms: spite, malevolence

Antonyms: kindness