malefic means having an evil or harmful influence; baleful. It carries an Arena rating of 1402, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, malefic ranks #1,112 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,028 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,464 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,508 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
malefic is pronounced /məˈlɛfɪk/.
Why “malefic” is a great word
Having an evil or harmful influence, often of a baleful or supernatural nature. From the Latin maleficus ("wicked, mischievous"), from male ("ill, badly") + -ficus ("making, doing"), first attested in English in the 1650s. Unlike "benefic," which denotes a positive or auspicious power, or "malignant," which suggests an inherent and consuming ill-will, malefic implies a directed, active agency of harm. It is the cold draft in a sealed room, the sudden souring of milk in an untouched jug, the shadow that falls just a moment too soon—a quiet conviction that the universe is not indifferent, but actively unkind.
Etymology
From Latin maleficus.
adj
- Having an evil or harmful influence; baleful.e.g.“Wormwood [...] was associated with the rites of St. John's Eve, when a crown of the plant was made from its sprays for apotropaic purposes, to ward of malefic spirits.” — 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 1:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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