malignant
[ muh-lig-nuhnt ]
/ məˈlɪg nənt /
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adjective
disposed to cause harm, suffering, or distress deliberately; feeling or showing ill will or hatred.
very dangerous or harmful in influence or effect.
Pathology.
- tending to produce death, as bubonic plague.
- (of a tumor) characterized by uncontrolled growth; cancerous, invasive, or metastatic.
OTHER WORDS FOR malignant
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Origin of malignant
OTHER WORDS FROM malignant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use malignant in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for malignant
malignant
/ (məˈlɪɡnənt) /
adjective
having or showing desire to harm others
tending to cause great harm; injurious
pathol (of a tumour) uncontrollable or resistant to therapy; rapidly spreading
noun
history (in the English Civil War) a Parliamentarian term for a royalist (def. 1)
Derived forms of malignant
malignantly, adverbWord Origin for malignant
C16: from Late Latin malīgnāre to behave spitefully, from Latin malīgnus malign
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Scientific definitions for malignant
malignant
[ mə-lĭg′nənt ]
Tending to have a destructive clinical course, as a malignant illness.
Relating to cancer cells that are invasive and tend to metastasize. Malignant tumor cells are histologically more primitive than normal tissue. Compare benign.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for malignant
malignant
A descriptive term for things or conditions that threaten life or well-being. Malignant is the opposite of benign.
notes for malignant
notes for malignant
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 New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.