MALEVOLENCE

 Dictionary entry overview: What does malevolence mean? 

• MALEVOLENCE (noun)
  The noun MALEVOLENCE has 2 senses:

1. wishing evil to others
2. the quality of threatening evil

  Familiarity information: MALEVOLENCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MALEVOLENCE (noun)

Meaning:

Wishing evil to others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

malevolence; malignity

Hypernyms ("malevolence" is a kind of...):

hate; hatred (the emotion of hate; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "malevolence"):

maleficence (doing or causing evil)

malice; maliciousness; spite; spitefulness; venom (feeling a need to see others suffer)

vengefulness; vindictiveness (a malevolent desire for revenge)

Antonym:

benevolence (disposition to do good)

Meaning:

The quality of threatening evil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

malevolency; malevolence; malice

Hypernyms ("malevolence" is a kind of...):

evil; evilness (the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "malevolence"):

bitchiness; cattiness; nastiness; spite; spitefulness (malevolence by virtue of being malicious or spiteful or nasty)

cruelness; cruelty; harshness (the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance)

beastliness; meanness (the quality of being deliberately mean)