fugitive vs malefactor

fugitive and malefactor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
fugitive	Yes	Yes	No	No
malefactor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, malefactor is a hypernym of fugitive; that is, malefactor is a word with a broader meaning than fugitive:

fugitive: someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice
malefactor: someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

Other hypernyms of fugitive include criminal, crook, felon, outlaw.

fugitive (noun)	malefactor (noun)
someone who is sought by law officers; someone trying to elude justice	someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
someone who flees from an uncongenial situation

fugitive (adjective)	malefactor (adjective)
lasting for a markedly brief time