malicious
muh-LISH-usadjMeaning meaning to hurt someone on purpose
Memory hook MAL spoils your deLICIOUS pie. Sneaky Mal pours salt into the baker’s delicious pie on purpose; spoiling it just to hurt her is malicious.
Spreading a malicious rumor can hurt a person’s friendships for years.
In context The broken window was no accident; the footprints and the thrown rock showed that the damage was malicious.
Similar spiteful, mean, vicious, malevolent
Opposite kind, benevolent, well-meaning
From Latin malitia, “badness, ill will,” from malus (bad).