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
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.
Unknown to her, the malignancy metastasized during her pregnancy.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
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
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
As to which came first, the malignancy or the disturbance of the chromosomes, these workers say without hesitation that “the chromosomal irregularities precede the malignancy.”
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.
