malignant
Americanadjective
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disposed to cause harm, suffering, or distress deliberately; feeling or showing ill will or hatred.
- Synonyms:
- malevolent, spiteful
- Antonyms:
- benign
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very dangerous or harmful in influence or effect.
- Synonyms:
- pernicious, hurtful, perilous
- Antonyms:
- benign
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Pathology.
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tending to produce death, as bubonic plague.
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(of a tumor) characterized by uncontrolled growth; cancerous, invasive, or metastatic.
- Antonyms:
- benign
-
adjective
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having or showing desire to harm others
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tending to cause great harm; injurious
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pathol (of a tumour) uncontrollable or resistant to therapy; rapidly spreading
noun
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Tending to have a destructive clinical course, as a malignant illness.
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Relating to cancer cells that are invasive and tend to metastasize. Malignant tumor cells are histologically more primitive than normal tissue.
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Compare benign
Usage
What’s the difference between malignant and benign? In a medical context, the word malignant is used to describe harmful masses or tumors that are cancerous and that grow and spread disease. The word benign is the opposite—it’s used to describe masses or tumors that are not cancerous (those that do not spread disease to other parts of the body). Both words are sometimes also used in general ways. Malignant can mean harmful or intended or intending to cause harm, while benign can mean kind, favorable, or gracious. The best clue to help remember their meanings is the prefix mal-, which means “bad” and shows up in a lot of other negative words, such as malfunction, malpractice, malicious, and maleficent. Here’s an example of malignant and benign used correctly in the same sentence. Example: She was afraid the lump was a malignant tumor, but it turned out to be a benign cyst—totally harmless. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between malignant and benign.
Discover More
The term is often used in a general way to denote something that is both destructive and fast growing: “The malignant growth of the suburbs is destroying the landscape.”
The term malignant is used in describing cancerous tumors (see cancer) because such growths are a threat to the health of the individual.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of malignant
First recorded in 1535–45; from Late Latin malignant-, stem of malignāns, present participle of malignāre “to act maliciously”; see malign, -ant
Explanation
For something that's very harmful, especially a tumor that's cancerous, use the term malignant. Malignant and its opposite benign are medical terms used to describe a tumor or growth as either cancerous or not respectively. The gn part of both words comes from the Latin word for born, but the word root mal means "evil," while bene means "kind." A malignant tumor grows uncontrollably and spreads to other parts of the body. Less commonly, malignant can also be used to mean "evil or malicious," like when someone has a malignant imagination.
Vocabulary lists containing malignant
Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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Beowulf
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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.
Malignant normality, in contrast, has a greater suggestion of a psychological experience on the part of individuals and groups.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024
Malignant brain tumours often recur despite surgery and post-treatment with chemotherapy and radiation.
From Science Daily • Jun. 19, 2024
Malignant narcissists often pose the greatest challenge for therapists—and they may be particularly dangerous in leadership positions, Diamond notes.
From Scientific American • Aug. 16, 2023
Malignant lesions and lymph nodes were detected in both of his lungs.
From Washington Times • May 18, 2023
On November 13, 1793, just a few days after President Washington’s early-morning ride, publisher Mathew Carey issued what would become a best-selling book: A Short Account of the Malignant Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia....
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
