Malicious
Malicious adjective - Having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Usage example: the neighborhood chatterbox has again been spreading malicious gossip
Vicious is a synonym for malicious in attitude topic. In some cases you can use "Vicious" instead an adjective "Malicious", when it comes to topics like hateful, hostile, spiteful, malevolent. popular alternative
Vicious
Vicious adjective - Having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others.
Usage example: she made a vicious effort to destroy the lives of the people who had wronged her
Malicious is a synonym for vicious in attitude topic. You can use "Malicious" instead an adjective "Vicious", if it concerns topics such as nasty, hostile, malevolent. popular alternative
Nearby Word: viciously
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
- Deadpan Snarker: Jonathan Crane is an especially vicious and malicious one.
Source: Fanfic / The CA Tverse - Now I'm vile, I am villainous, and vicious, oh and malicious.
Source: Card Carrying Villain / Film -
Take a look at "Sergeant D":"Ruthless and vicious, he'll stomp on your faceDeadly, malicious; stay out of his spaceHe'll rip your eyes out, so just look your own wayAnd once you meet him, there's no time to pray" Yes, the song gets worse than that.
Source: Music / Stormtroopers of Death
Cite this Source
Vicious and Malicious. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/malicious/vicious
Malicious & Vicious. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/malicious/vicious>.
Vicious or Malicious. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/malicious/vicious.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "malicious" and "vicious" have occurred on timeline