malign
Americanverb (used with object)
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has malignedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have malignedperfect
-
am maligningprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been maligningperfect progressive
-
has been maligningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
malignssingular 3rd person
-
maligningparticiple
-
is maligningprogressive 3rd person singular
-
are maligningprogressive
Past
-
had malignedperfect
-
was maligningprogressive singular
-
malignedparticiple
-
were maligningprogressive plural
-
had been maligningperfect progressive
-
malignedsimple
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.
Malign actors are sowing confusion and doubt and that serves to exacerbate fault lines in society.
From Salon • Aug. 22, 2022
Experts say the proposed Foreign Malign Influence Center would bring much-needed direction to efforts across government studying adversaries.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 9, 2022
While experts and intelligence officials say the proposed Foreign Malign Influence Center is needed, the intelligence community and Congress have not agreed on the center’s size and budget.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 14, 2022
In his 2014 book about the movement, Malign Velocities, Benjamin Noys accuses it of offering “false” solutions to current technological and economic dilemmas.
From The Guardian • May 11, 2017
Malign it was, she did not for an instant doubt.
From The Cathedral by Walpole, Hugh, Sir
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.
