maleficence.

The practice or quality of doing deliberate harm or evil.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• acts of maleficence
• deliberate maleficence

On the page

The pattern revealed deliberate maleficence rather than negligence.

No ritual could excuse the acts of maleficence committed in its name.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.