Is this your crossword clue?
"malice" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often spite (5 letters).
Definitions
the quality of threatening evil
Word origin
From Middle English malice, borrowed from Old French malice, from Latin malitia (“badness, bad quality, ill-will, spite”), from malus (“bad”).
Used in a sentence
“Your voice positively drips malice.”
“[…] not only was there no gratitude (which he could psychologically handle) but downright malice showed itself instead.”
“Thou blinded God (quod I) forgive me this offence, / Unwittingly I went about, to malice thy pretence.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Intent to harm”6 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
M_____