malign
Americanverb (used with object)
-
maligns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
maligned,
past participle, past
-
maligning
present participle
adjective
-
evil in effect; pernicious; baleful; injurious.
The gloomy house had a malign influence upon her usually good mood.
- Synonyms:
- baneful
-
having or showing an evil disposition; malevolent; malicious.
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
malignsimple
-
malignssimple
-
have malignedperfect
-
has malignedperfect
-
am maligningprogressive
-
are maligningprogressive
-
is maligningprogressive
-
have been maligningperfect progressive
-
has been maligningperfect progressive
Past
-
malignedsimple
-
had malignedperfect
-
was maligningprogressive
-
were maligningprogressive
-
had been maligningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of malign
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English maligne, from Middle French, from Latin malignus; see mal-, benign
Explanation
If you malign someone, you badmouth them — just like the jilted girlfriend who tells the whole school her ex has bad breath and head lice. When you habitually malign people, you risk being described as "a malign influence" — in this case, malign is an adjective that describes a harmful or even evil person or thing. Whichever way you use the word, its connection to wickedness can be found in its Latin root, malignus, "wicked or bad-natured," which combines male, or "badly" and -gnus, "born."
Vocabulary lists containing malign
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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:
“The system is operating in this state of malign neglect and carelessness that has a real impact on people’s financial lives,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
"These scenes have caused disruption for people and, given that people are dressed in black wearing balaclavas, there is a fear factor and obvious malign intent being communicated to our residents," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Yet that’s also how Malone feels about the current climate of Hollywood — a once-stable neighborhood fending off malign forces.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
In 1979 Americans immediately felt the malign effects of that year’s Islamic revolution, which replaced the autocratic but modernizing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Can it be that there is a malign influence of the sun at periods which affects certain natures—as at times the moon does others?
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Much like the recent reclaiming of the bimbo as empowering and gossip as an act of feminist resistance, her L.A. hot girl TikToks remove guilt from the pleasure of feminine hobbies that patriarchy maligns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
If a media organization knowingly and falsely maligns a public figure, the fact that it reported nice and true things elsewhere is no defense.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
But the movement has been getting pushback from some Hindu Americans who argue that such legislation maligns a specific community.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
The girls' family has also questioned the police's version, saying it maligns their daughters.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2022
Self-convicted of malice, he has not the slightest suspicion of his ignorance; whereas he knows nothing of these masters whom he maligns.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXVI. October, 1843. Vol. LIV. by Various
Has a maligned New York athlete enjoyed a renaissance quite like Towns, aka KAT?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Oral estrogens have been unfairly maligned, while transdermal patches have been deemed a safer option.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
McKellen has made dozens of films since, from superhero blockbusters to character-driven indies like “Six Degrees of Separation” and musicals such as “Beauty and the Beast” and even the maligned “Cats.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Richly talented but much maligned, England captain Harry Brook finally achieved redemption at Pallekele stadium in Kandy after a torrid few months -- and came of age as a leader.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
I wailed and gnashed my teeth over the fact that I had maligned a fellow student.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
I am in no way maligning Tracey’s question, though.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2024
Schultz and Gershman expect that, should Carroll proceed with another complaint and trial, Trump will receive much steeper punitive damages than previously adjudged as the court attempts to further deter him from maligning her.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2024
The executive director of Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, said the judge’s 49-page decision recognized the law as censorship, a violation of the Constitution and wrongly maligning librarians.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
“I don’t think she’s maligning ‘Deal or No Deal.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
"Who has been maligning you?" demanded Olga, looking at Max with very bright eyes.
From The Keeper of the Door by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
