Definition of "maleficence" [ma•lef•i•cence]

• The doing of evil or harm; mischief. (noun)
• Harmful or evil nature or quality. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "However, to understand how they explained maleficence, it is helpful to delve further into their worldview understandings."
• "Lawyers are subjected to state bar association disciplinary boards in cases of abject negligence or maleficence, but let's just say that "do no harm" isn't part of their swearing in process."
• "Besides providing all the requisite gore of a true-crime narrative, Never Enough suggests that no matter how tasteless, mindless and incompetent we may be, we're perfect Einsteins in comparison to the Kissel family, which is capable of committing any maleficence known to man, but utterly incapable of doing it properly."