malware
mal·ware/ˈmæl.wɛəɹ/noun
malware is spelled M-A-L-W-A-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (mal·ware). It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malware means “Software which has been designed to operate in a malicious, undesirable manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in malware?
| Letters | 7: M-A-L-W-A-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mal·ware |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is malware?
Malware appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 malware?
- UK /ˈmæl.wɛː/
- UK /ˈmæl.wɛə/
- US /ˈmæl.wɛəɹ/
Malware has 2 syllables, split mal·ware in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-malware.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does malware mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Software which has been designed to operate in a malicious, undesirable manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Malware in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense software developed to cause harm to a computer system:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | maliciel, logiciel malveillant |
| German | Schadsoftware, Malware, Schadprogramm |
| Portuguese | malware, programa malicioso |
| Spanish | malware, programa malicioso |
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 malware come from?
From mal- + -ware.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).