noun
-
the condition or quality of being malign, malevolent, or deadly
-
(often plural) a malign or malicious act or feeling
Synonym Usage
See malevolence.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of malignity
1350–1400; Middle English malignitee, from Latin malignitās. See malign, -ity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Intimately acquainted with Richard’s malignity, these ruined royals know only too well the toll of his depraved machinations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
His malignity and psychopathology seem to attract followers when these same characteristics should repulse people.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2024
But reflecting on Onfroy’s legacy also requires a frank confrontation with the malignity he inflicted.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 20, 2018
Their malignity flows from ambition, an irony that makes you want to avert your eyes, always an impediment to reading enjoyment.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2015
He made the whole party opposed to him a person, and attacked it with all the malignity, scorn, invective, and jeers he would one who had grossly abused his person and assailed his honor.
From The Second War with England, Vol. 1 of 2 by Joel Tyler Headley
A dozen, a score of the pallid malignities seemed to pour in toward the center of the grove, where John Parry’s ghost marshaled his companions to fight them off.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Ill-natured tittle-tattle, which should have been instantly nipped in the bud, had been allowed to assume disgraceful proportions; and the Throne itself had become involved in the personal malignities of the palace.
From Queen Victoria by Giles Lytton Strachey
"What malignities and slanders," exclaims Diaz, "were now circulated against Cortez by his enemies in Mexico!"
From Hernando Cortez Makers of History by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
He watches the angers, the malignities of men and women, as one might watch the quarrels of wild beasts, not cynically, but with the detached, as it were professional, interest of a born "fighter."
From Robert Browning by C. H. (Charles Harold) Herford
Mr. Kahn, notwithstanding threats and malignities, went out to speak to them—individually, through newspaper articles, or at great mass meetings.
From Right Above Race by Otto Hermann Kahn
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