ma‧li‧cious / məˈlɪʃəs / adjective
very unkind and cruel, and deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset or hurt someone :
a malicious girl
malicious gossip/rumour
Who is responsible for these malicious rumours?
— maliciously adverb
— maliciousness noun [ uncountable ]
THESAURUS
unkind treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty : Children can be very unkind to each other. | a rather unkind remark
mean especially spoken unkind : Don’t be mean to your sister! | It was a mean thing to do.
nasty deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy : He said some really nasty things before he left. | a nasty man
hurtful unkind – used about remarks and actions : Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said. | Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
spiteful deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them : The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do. | She watched them with spiteful glee (= pleasure ) .
malicious deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone : Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him. | There was a malicious smile on her face. | an act of malicious vandalism | The accusations are malicious.
unsympathetic not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better : Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam. | an unsympathetic boss
hard-hearted very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings : Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight? | a hard-hearted businessman