Ma·li·cious a.
1. Indulging or exercising malice; harboring ill will or enmity.
I grant him bloody, . . .
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin
That has a name. --Shak.
2. Proceeding from hatred or ill will; dictated by malice; as, a malicious report; malicious mischief.
3. Law With wicked or mischievous intentions or motives; wrongful and done intentionally without just cause or excuse; as, a malicious act.
Malicious abandonment, the desertion of a wife or husband without just cause. --Burrill.
Malicious prosecution or Malicious arrest Law, a wanton prosecution or arrest, by regular process in a civil or criminal proceeding, without probable cause. --Bouvier.
Syn: -- Ill-disposed; evil-minded; mischievous; envious; malevolent; invidious; spiteful; bitter; malignant; rancorous; malign.
-- Ma*li*cious*ly, adv. -- Ma*li*cious*ness, n.
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