as in malicious
having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
the virulent look on her face warned me that she was about to say something unkind
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Recent Examples of virulent
Meanwhile, Spotify only took down the song following public pressure but has yet to answer for allowing major podcasts to platform Holocaust deniers and amplify virulent antisemites.
—
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2025
But the malady afflicting much of the Dodgers lineup seems to have infected the third baseman with a particularly virulent strain.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2025
Seminole’s outbreak didn’t deter the group, which wrongly suggested it had been caused by a local vaccination campaign and then floated other contradictory theories: that the vaccines were failing, shedding the measles virus, or perhaps working too well, leading somehow to a super virulent strain.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC news, 4 June 2025
When the pla gene was in its original, high copy number, the disease was much more virulent.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for virulent
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2025
But the malady afflicting much of the Dodgers lineup seems to have infected the third baseman with a particularly virulent strain.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2025
Seminole’s outbreak didn’t deter the group, which wrongly suggested it had been caused by a local vaccination campaign and then floated other contradictory theories: that the vaccines were failing, shedding the measles virus, or perhaps working too well, leading somehow to a super virulent strain.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC news, 4 June 2025
When the pla gene was in its original, high copy number, the disease was much more virulent.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for virulent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for virulent
Adjective
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Deepfakes have been growing more sophisticated in recent years, in addition to being increasingly deployed for malicious purposes.—
Shannon Bond,
NPR,
10 July 2025
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
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The author presents a vicious takedown of George Washington.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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Stanton, demonstrating that there’s still plenty of power in his vicious swing, sent the pitch 401 feet the other way at 106.1 mph.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
9 July 2025
Adjective
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Politics remains a cruel business and the governor has been on the frontline of it for nearly 20 years, winning and losing.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
5 July 2025
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They were joined by actors playing the contestants, who lurched along wearing expressions of exaggerated horror, as though the cruel stakes of the game had just been revealed to them.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Adjective
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Hoxton Grove Estate is shrouded in bad vibes, from Jess’s fighting neighbors — a group of women who have been, by turns, loving and hateful toward each other all season, their intensity coming to a head when one of them is seduced by the other’s boyfriend — to Felix’s lethargy.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
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Being a private equity venture, Substack directly profits from its creators, hateful and hopeful alike.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Adjective
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Her somewhat implausible problem is that her bad feelings—her irritation, her boredom—never register as such because of her beauty, her wealth, and her pedigree; so great is her beauty that even her nastiest moods feel like a sunny glow to others.—
Claire Jarvis,
New Yorker,
8 July 2025
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But use kind humor, not nasty or deprecating humor.—
Davia Temin,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Virulent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/virulent. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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