noun
Meaning 1
harmfulness or mischief.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
maleficence
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/məˈlɛfɪsəns/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
noun
Meaning 2
the quality or nature of being harmful or evil
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mischief, balefulness
Antonyms: beneficence
Broader terms: evil, evilness
noun
Meaning 3
doing or causing evil
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: beneficence
Broader terms: malevolence, malignity
History
Etymology
From Italian maleficenza or Middle French maleficence or directly from Latin maleficentia.