malefactor

noun

ˈma-lə-ˌfak-tər How to pronounce malefactor (audio)
Definition of malefactornext
1
as in criminal
a person who commits moral wrongs she regards anyone who would cause the breakup of a family as a malefactor of the worst sort

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in offender
a person who has committed a crime the victim was able to give a clear description of the malefactor to the police

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of malefactor But in his wake, an even more malicious malefactor arose, taking advantage of a gaping spiritual void to double down on Jeff's sadistic coercion. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Apr. 2026 Electronic medical records were once touted as secure, but whole hospital systems have been taken down and held for ransom by malefactors. — Cory Franklin, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025 The Sea of Excrement, with its bobbing malefactors, is especially memorable. — New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 On social media, Tan was pugilistic to the point of belligerence, casting his political enemies as corrupt malefactors responsible for the despoliation of his beloved city. — Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for malefactor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malefactor
  1. criminal
  2. offender
  3. wrongdoer
  4. sinner
  5. villain
Noun
  • Still, a criminal may combine those details with passwords, PINs or other information stolen elsewhere.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.
    — Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • The Oak Lawn and Alsip village boards voted to regulate the use of security foggers in businesses as a method to deter offenders.
    — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Too often, special occasions can feel like an excuse to buy a new outfit; weddings are the worst offenders.
    — Corinne Pierre-Louis, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • There’s no major wreckage here, nor is comeuppance meted out to the wrongdoers.
    — Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026
  • The Native community had its own ways of punishing wrongdoers, but Stevens’ role was to protect her client’s constitutional rights.
    — Mackenzie Farkus, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of wrongdoer
Noun
  • His life moved from pain to promise, despair to hope, and perhaps as humanly possible, from sinner to saint.
    — Steven D. Reske, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • On one page, tiny, antlike sinners tumbled down a cliff toward perdition.
    — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of sinner
Noun
  • The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Carrie’s focus is also shifted, with the 2013 version finding Chloe Grace Moretz’s Carrie more akin to an X-Men villain than the traumatized, feverish teen Sissy Spacek played in 1976.
    — Alex Zalben, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of villain

Browse Nearby Words

malefactions
malefactor
malefactors
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Malefactor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malefactor. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All