malignancy
Americannoun
plural
malignancies-
the quality or condition of being malignant.
-
malignant character, behavior, action, or the like.
the malignancies of war.
-
a malignant tumor.
noun
-
the state or quality of being malignant
-
pathol a cancerous growth
Other Word Forms
- nonmalignance noun
- nonmalignancy noun
Etymology
Origin of malignancy
First recorded in 1595–1605; malign(ant) + -ancy
Vocabulary lists containing malignancy
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.
Mary’s presence is a malignancy, a blight on the name that Sam has worked so hard to build, an identity that’s separate from Mary’s and secure in its solitude.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
But he sure makes the strongest case for being the most malevolent, influential force there, a malignancy that poisons everything he touches.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026
Nothing in these stories, translated by Megan McDowell, is quite impossible, yet the shadow of numinous malignancy hangs over everything.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
By the time the lecture was over, he knew that he would drop all of his ongoing projects to find the cause of the unusual malignancy.
From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2024
A substance that is not a carcinogen in the ordinary sense may disturb the normal functioning of some part of the body in such a way that malignancy results.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
