malefactor
/ˈmæləˌfæktɚ/noun
malefactor is spelled M-A-L-E-F-A-C-T-O-R: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malefactor means “A criminal or felon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of malefactor is malefactors.
How many letters and syllables are in malefactor?
| Letters | 10: M-A-L-E-F-A-C-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 34 million words; the 178,202nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is malefactor?
Malefactor appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce malefactor?
- US /ˈmæləˌfæktɚ/
Malefactor has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-malefactor.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of malefactor
- malefactors plural
- malefactour
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does malefactor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A criminal or felon.
- 2
An evildoer.
Though your unseen malefactor’s actions may give the impression of confidence… Vaermina suspects he is terrified his plan will go astray.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Malefactor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense evildoer:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | malfaiteur, malfaitrice |
| German | Übeltäter, Übeltäterin, Malefaktor |
| Portuguese | malfeitor, malfeitora |
| Spanish | malhechor, malhechora, malfechor (disused), facineroso, maleante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does malefactor come from?
From Middle English malefactour, from Late Latin malefactor, from Latin malefaciō, from male (“evilly”) + factus (“made or done”), past participle of facio (“to make or do”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).