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malign

ma·lign

UK/məˈlaɪn/ US/mʌˈlaɪn/ rare archaic
adjective (2) verb (1)

adjective

1.

evil or harmful in nature or influence

  • “prompted by malign motives”
  • “believed in witches and malign spirits”
  • “gave him a malign look”
  • “a malign lesion”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

having or exerting a malignant influence

  • “malevolent stars”
  • “a malefic force”
Synonyms
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verb

1.

speak unfavorably about

  • “She badmouthes her husband everywhere”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English maligne, from Old French maligne, from Latin malignus, from malus (“bad”) + genus (“sort, kind”). Compare benign.

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.