Showing results for "maligned"

• past tense form of malign.
• past participle of malign.

maligned

American  

[muh-lahynd] / məˈlaɪnd /

adjective

1. spoken ill of; defamed or slandered.

   I pointed to my unweeded yard full of bees and waxed rhapsodic about the benefits of the maligned dandelion.

   Considered by many to be a usurper and murderer, Richard III is one of the most maligned kings in history.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of malign.

Other Word Forms

• unmaligned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of maligned

malign ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

maligned

For nearly 40 years as an attorney, he used that presence to fight for the maligned like few others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

The author likens Grietje to the women of Salem and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne, describing her as one of early America’s “unfairly and heinously maligned women.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

Oral estrogens have been unfairly maligned, while transdermal patches have been deemed a safer option.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

Richly talented but much maligned, England captain Harry Brook finally achieved redemption at Pallekele stadium in Kandy after a torrid few months -- and came of age as a leader.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

And I, for one, am tired of the way black holes get maligned!

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows