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malign

[muh-lahyn]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to speak harmful untruths about; speak evil of; slander; defame: to malign an honorable man.
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adjective
  1. evil in effect; pernicious; baleful; injurious: The gloomy house had a malign influence upon her usually good mood.
  2. having or showing an evil disposition; malevolent; malicious.
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Origin of malign

1275–1325; Middle English maligne < Middle French < Latin malignus. See mal-, benign
Related formsma·lign·er, nounma·lign·ly, adverbun·ma·ligned, adjective

Synonyms

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1. libel, calumniate; disparage; revile, abuse, vilify. 2. baneful.

Antonyms

1. praise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

rejectedscorned

Examples from the Web for maligned

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The maligned Mrs. Dott announced that she had a good mind to box his ears.

    Cap'n Dan's Daughter

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • You shall be a witness hereafter of how deeply I am maligned.

    The Shame of Motley

    Raphael Sabatini

  • I spurned him from me with violence because he had maligned your wife.

    Is He Popenjoy?

    Anthony Trollope

  • I said I was pleased to hear it, no doubt someone had maligned them.

  • I did not enlighten him, for I had no desire to hear her maligned.

    The Seven Secrets

    William Le Queux

British Dictionary definitions for maligned

malign

adjective
  1. evil in influence, intention, or effect
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verb
  1. (tr) to slander or defame
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Derived Formsmaligner, nounmalignly, adverb

Word Origin

C14: via Old French from Latin malīgnus spiteful, from malus evil
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for maligned

malign

v.

"to slander," mid-15c., from earlier more literal sense of "to plot, to contrive" (early 15c.), from Old French malignier "to plot, deceive, pervert," from Late Latin malignare "to do maliciously," from malignus (see malign (adj.)). Related: Maligned; maligning.

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malign

adj.

early 14c., from Old French maligne "having an evil nature," from Latin malignus "wicked, bad-natured," from male "badly" (see mal-) + -gnus "born," from gignere "to bear, beget," from PIE root *gn- "to bear" (see genus).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper