malveillance
French, noun\mal.vɛ.jɑ̃s\
malveillance is spelled M-A-L-V-E-I-L-L-A-N-C-E (12 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 33,599th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Malveillance is a French feminine noun meaning “malevolence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Mauvaise volonté pour les hommes en général ou pour quelqu’un en particulier. Voire volonté de nuire plus ou…”.
What does malveillance mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininemalevolence
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Mauvaise volonté pour les hommes en général ou pour quelqu’un en particulier. Voire volonté de nuire plus ou moins ouvertement pour en tirer un quelconque avantage ou profit personnel. 2. Acte criminel ayant pour objectif de nuire à autrui.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of malveillance
- malveillances plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce malveillance?
- \mal.vɛ.jɑ̃s\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to malveillance
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is malveillance in French?
malveillance appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).