malware

mal·ware
M3A1L1W4A1R1E1
UK/ˈmæl.wɛː/UK/ˈmæl.wɛə/US/ˈmæl.wɛəɹ/

noun

Software which has been designed to operate in a malicious, undesirable manner.

OriginEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru →
Less commonScrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmalware (usually uncountable, plural malware or (nonstandard) malwares)

nonstandard plural malwares

  1. uncountableusuallycomputingSoftware which has been designed to operate in a malicious, undesirable manner.
    1 more example

    In a follow-up attack that hit Kyiv’s power grid a year later, the suspects used a second piece of malware, called Industroyer, to cut power for an hour, the indictment said. The malware, according to experts, posed one of the greatest digital threats to critical infrastructure since Stuxnet, the computer attack by the United States and Israel that took out Iran’s uranium centrifuges in 2009.

    2020 October 19, “U.S. Charges Russian Intelligence Officers in Major Cyberattacks”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)mel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)molos?
  3. Proto-Italic*malos
  4. Latinmalus
  5. Latinmale
  6. Old Frenchmal-
  7. Englishmal-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  9. Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
  10. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  11. Old Englishsōfte
  12. Middle Englishsofte
  13. Englishsoft
  14. Proto-Germanic*warō
  15. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  16. Old Englishwaru
  17. Middle Englishware
  18. Englishsoftwarebf.
  19. Englishmalware

From mal- + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans skadelike programmatuur
  • skadelike programmatuursoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Arabic برنامج ضار
  • برنامج ضارsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Basque software kaltegarria
  • software kaltegarriasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Bengali মালওয়্যার, ক্ষতিকর সফটওয়্যার
  • মালওয়্যার (malōẇyar)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • ক্ষতিকর সফটওয়্যার (khotikor śophoṭōẇyar)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Bulgarian злонамерен софтуер
  • злонамерен софтуер (zlonameren softuer)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Chinese Mandarin 流氓軟件 /流氓软件, 惡意軟件 /恶意软件
  • 流氓軟件 /流氓软件 (liúmáng ruǎnjiàn)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 惡意軟件 /恶意软件 (èyì ruǎnjiàn)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Czech malware, škodlivý software
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • škodlivý softwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Danish malware, skadelig software
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • skadelig softwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Dutch malware, schadelijke software
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • schadelijke softwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Esperanto fiprogramaro
  • fiprogramarosoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Estonian pahavara, ründevara
  • pahavarasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • ründevarasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Finnish haittaohjelma
  • haittaohjelmasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
French maliciel, logiciel malveillant
  • malicielsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • logiciel malveillantsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
German Schadsoftware, Malware
  • Schadsoftwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • Malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • Schadprogrammsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Greek κακόβουλο λογισμικό, επιβλαβές λογισμικό
  • κακόβουλο λογισμικό (kakóvoulo logismikó)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • επιβλαβές λογισμικό (epivlavés logismikó)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Hebrew תוכנות מזיקות, תוכנה זדונית
  • תוכנות מזיקותsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • תוכנה זדוניתsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Hindi मैलवेयर, दुर्भावनापूर्ण सॉफ़्टवेयर
  • मैलवेयर (mailveyar)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • दुर्भावनापूर्ण सॉफ़्टवेयर (durbhāvnāpūrṇ sŏfṭaveyar)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Hungarian rosszindulatú szoftver, kártevő szoftver
  • rosszindulatú szoftversoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • kártevő szoftversoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • kártékony szoftversoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Indonesian peranti perusak, peranti lunak berbahaya
  • peranti perusaksoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • peranti lunak berbahayasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • perangkat lunak jahatsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • malwersoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Italian malware, software dannoso
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • software dannososoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Japanese マルウェア, 悪意のソフトウェア
  • マルウェア (maruwea)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 悪意のソフトウェア (akui no sofutowea)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 不正ソフトウェア (fusei sofutowea)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 有害なソフトウェア (yūgai na sofutowea)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Korean 맬웨어, 악성 소프트웨어
  • 맬웨어 (maerweeo)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 악성 소프트웨어 (akseong sopeuteuweeo)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • 유해한 소프트웨어 (yuhaehan sopeuteuweeo)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Latvian ļaunprogrammatūra, ļaunatūra
  • ļaunprogrammatūrasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • ļaunatūrasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Lithuanian kenkėjiška programa
  • kenkėjiška programasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Malay perisian berniat jahat, perisian berbahaya
  • perisian berniat jahatsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • perisian berbahayasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • perisian hasadsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Māori pūmanawa kino
  • pūmanawa kinosoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Norwegian skadelig programvare, skadevare
  • skadelig programvaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • skadevaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Persian بدافزار, نرم افزار مخرب
  • بدافزارsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • نرم افزار مخربsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Polish szkodliwe oprogramowanie, złośliwe oprogramowanie
  • szkodliwe oprogramowaniesoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • złośliwe oprogramowaniesoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Portuguese malware, programa malicioso
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • programa maliciososoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Punjabi ਮਾਲਵੇਅਰ, ਦੁਰਭਾਵਨਾਪੂਰਣ ਸੌਫਟਵੇਅਰ
  • ਮਾਲਵੇਅਰ (mālveara)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • ਦੁਰਭਾਵਨਾਪੂਰਣ ਸੌਫਟਵੇਅਰ (durbhāvanāpūraṇ sauphṭaveara)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Romanian malware, software rău intenționat
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • software rău intenționatsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Russian вредоно́сная програ́мма, зловре́дная програ́мма
  • вредоно́сная програ́мма (vredonósnaja prográmma)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • зловре́дная програ́мма (zlovrédnaja prográmma)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • вредоно́с (vredonós)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • зловре́д (zlovréd)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Slovak malvér, škodlivý softvér
  • malvérsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • škodlivý softvérsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Spanish malware, programa malicioso
  • malwaresoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • programa maliciososoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Swedish skadlig programvara, sabotageprogram
  • skadlig programvarasoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • sabotageprogramsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Thai มัลแวร์, ซอฟต์แวร์ที่เป็นอันตราย
  • มัลแวร์ (mal-wɛɛ)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • ซอฟต์แวร์ที่เป็นอันตรายsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Turkish zararlı yazılım
  • zararlı yazılımsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Ukrainian шкідлива програма
  • шкідлива програма (škidlyva prohrama)software developed to cause harm to a computer system
Vietnamese mã độc, phần mềm độc hại
  • mã độcsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • phần mềm độc hạisoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • phần mềm ác ýsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • phần mềm ác tínhsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
  • phần mềm gây hạisoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Welsh maleiswedd
  • maleisweddsoftware developed to cause harm to a computer system
Cite this entry
APA

malware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malware

MLA

“malware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malware. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malware.

Source: malware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.