malediction
3
9.9
- noun
- /ˌmælɪˈdɪkʃən/
- Literature
:
maldición
- In ancient times, a malediction could be invoked to curse an enemy during battle.
Examples
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Maledictions don't issue from Heaven or Hell but from some unresolved place in between.
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The witch's malediction brought misfortune to anyone who crossed her path.
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And if you had to guess... what would satisfy our malediction?
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And the thing we know about maledictions is...
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May Yalla deliver us from malediction; may Yalla help us to secure victory in peace.
Academic text (1990) -
Suffice to say... the malediction needs satisfaction in order to escape its netherworld.
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Heavenly Father, I pray that I may be confounded and that the maledictions of Dathan and Abiram may fall upon me if I have sinned or been at fault in any way in this affair.
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When I had gone well astray from this city's curse, I could see its malediction like an octopus, spreading its branching tentacles out to other cities and infecting them with the curse.
Fiction book (1994) -
Whereas the aforesaid Cecil's condition manifests signs of magical origin, viz., a malediction placed upon him by enemies of the kingdom with the aim of distressing, discomposing, and discomfiting Our Royal Self and the Royal Family,
Fiction book (1995) -
He felt the weight of her malediction after he betrayed her trust.
Synonyms
262
5.5
A magic spell that brings harm to a person or thing
2
9.9
A spoken wish for bad things to happen to someone
A wish that bad things will happen to someone
Antonyms
How Harmful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word malediction comes from Latin parts mal meaning 'bad' and dicere meaning 'to say', so it literally means 'saying something bad' and refers to a spoken curse. It shares the same root as dictate and diction, which are also about speaking.