as in crime
a breaking of a moral or legal code
the town treasurer has been linked to the kickback scheme and other financial malefactions
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Recent Examples of malefaction
And the principle remains that representing a malefactor isn’t, ipso facto, an act of malefaction.
—
Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2022
A pitch-framing specialist with rare agility behind the plate, Wolters must coax pitchers through Coors Field and its occasional malefactions.
—Orange County Register, 1 Apr. 2017
Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2022
A pitch-framing specialist with rare agility behind the plate, Wolters must coax pitchers through Coors Field and its occasional malefactions.
—Orange County Register, 1 Apr. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malefaction
Noun
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Federal prosecutors charged a UK teenager with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and other crimes in connection with the network intrusions of 47 US companies that generated more than $115 million in ransomware payments over a three-year span.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
19 Sep. 2025
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In December 2024, Syed’s legal team filed a motion to reduce his life sentence under Maryland's Juvenile Restoration Act, as Syed was not yet 18 at the time of the crime.—
Erin Jensen,
USA Today,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The violation is the eleventh recorded since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, according to Defense Ministry figures provided to ABC News.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
15 Sep. 2025
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From spoiled chicken to dead cockroaches, health inspectors in Missouri and Kansas found numerous violations at Kansas City area restaurants last week.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Sagrada Família was founded as an expiatory church, meaning that it would be financed by prayerful donations from people atoning for their sins.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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Lee and her brother William would preach far and wide to attract people to their cause (a necessity, given the lifetime celibacy requirement) and their pursuit of a utopian society free of any and all sin.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malefaction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malefaction. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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