malevolent
part of speech
adjective (malevolent, more malevolent, most malevolent)
meaning for a pupil
1) Wanting to do harm or evil to others; full of hate and spite. tree →
2) (in stories) Seeming evil and threatening: «a malevolent stare». tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories, «malevolent» describes villains, witches, evil spirits or a dark, threatening atmosphere: «a malevolent grin». It tells the reader that someone wants to hurt others on purpose. It is a strong, slightly formal word, good for creative writing. Opposite: «benevolent» (kind, wanting to do good). Phrases: «a malevolent spirit», «malevolent eyes».
examples
- The malevolent witch wanted to poison the princess. tree →
- A malevolent grin spread across the villain's face. tree →
- The old house had a malevolent feeling, as if something was watching. tree →
- The dragon gave him a malevolent stare. tree →
- In the story, a malevolent spirit haunted the mill. tree →
- He wasn't malevolent, just careless. tree →
- The storm clouds looked malevolent and dark. tree →
- Benevolent kings help people; malevolent ones harm them. tree →
- Before taking leave of the Baba Yaga, we may glance at a malevolent monster, who seems to be her male counterpart. tree →
note
Adjective; noun «malevolence», adverb «malevolently». «Mal-» means bad (as in malfunction, malpractice); «bene-» means good (benevolent). Stronger than «mean» or «unkind». Not a maths word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «malevolent» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.