ma·lef·ic  (mə-lĕf ĭk)
Share:
adj. 1. Having or exerting a malignant influence. 2. Causing evil or harm: “Meth appears to be the most malefic drug of them all” (David Sheff).
[Latin maleficus : male, ill; see mel-3 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + -ficus, -fic.]
ma·lefi·cal·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage Dictionary Blog
This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.