malevolence

/məˈlɛvələns/

//məˈlɛvələns// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"malevolence" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“malevolence” is uncommon English (frequency #64,514 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,514
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Hostile attitude or feeling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-malevolence · malevolence · English

malevolence · rank #64,514 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,514
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH maglev

Nearest frequency peer: maglev (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “malevolence”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “malevolence” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for malevolence
PropertyValue
Headwordmalevolence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məˈlɛvələns/
Letters11
Frequency rank#64,514
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “malevolence” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).malevolencefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “maglev” (#64,513), “Malinowski” (#64,515), “macaw” (#64,512). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “malevolence” is #64,514. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

malevolence is uncommon English at frequency #64,514 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /məˈlɛvələns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for malevolence, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French malevolence, from Latin malevolentia (“malevolence”), derived from malevolēns (“malevolent”). The correct English form is malevolence, spelled M-A-L-E-V-O-L-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hostile attitude or feeling.
  2. 2
    Behavior exhibiting a hostile attitude.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how malevolence appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. to show someone malevolence
  2. He said it with malevolence.

Etymology

From Middle French malevolence, from Latin malevolentia (“malevolence”), derived from malevolēns (“malevolent”).

Synonyms

ill-willmalicespite

Antonyms

benevolence

This word in other languages

malevolencia(Español)malveillance(Français)Missgunst(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "malevolence"?
"malevolence" is spelled M-A-L-E-V-O-L-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /məˈlɛvələns/.
What does "malevolence" mean?
As a noun, "malevolence" means: Hostile attitude or feeling.
How do you pronounce "malevolence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malevolence" is /məˈlɛvələns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "malevolence"?
From Middle French malevolence, from Latin malevolentia (“malevolence”), derived from malevolēns (“malevolent”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "malevolence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

managements#64,518Ouagadougou#64,592parathyroid#64,598politicking#64,618

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list