marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful; "a malevolent lie"; "poisonous hate...in his eyes"- Ernest Hemingway; "venomous criticism"; "vicious gossip";
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin''s roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks";
