malignant

[ muh-lig-nuhnt ]

adjective

1. disposed to cause harm, suffering, or distress deliberately; feeling or showing ill will or hatred.

   Synonyms: malevolent, spiteful

   Antonyms: benign

2. very dangerous or harmful in influence or effect.

   Synonyms: pernicious, hurtful, perilous

   Antonyms: benign

3. Pathology.
   1. tending to produce death, as bubonic plague.
   2. (of a tumor) characterized by uncontrolled growth; cancerous, invasive, or metastatic.

   Antonyms: benign

malignant

/ məˈlɪɡnənt /

adjective

1. having or showing desire to harm others
2. tending to cause great harm; injurious
3. pathol (of a tumour) uncontrollable or resistant to therapy; rapidly spreading

noun

1. See royalist
   history (in the English Civil War) a Parliamentarian term for a royalist

malignant

/ mə-lĭg′nənt /

1. Tending to have a destructive clinical course, as a malignant illness.
2. Relating to cancer cells that are invasive and tend to metastasize. Malignant tumor cells are histologically more primitive than normal tissue.
3. Compare benign

malignant

1. A descriptive term for things or conditions that threaten life or well-being. Malignant is the opposite of benign .

Notes

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.

Derived Forms

• maˈlignantly, adverb

Other Words From

• ma·lignant·ly adverb
• nonma·lignant adjective
• nonma·lignant·ly adverb
• semi·ma·lignant adjective
• semi·ma·lignant·ly adverb
• unma·lignant adjective
• unma·lignant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of malignant¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Late Latin malignant-, stem of malignāns, present participle of malignāre “to act maliciously”; malign, -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of malignant¹

C16: from Late Latin malīgnāre to behave spitefully, from Latin malīgnus malign

Example Sentences

They are three-dimensional assemblages of malignant growths used to study cancer behavior and vulnerability to chemotherapy and the so-called “targeted drugs”—the next generation therapies.

From Nautilus

They can reveal how normal tissues turn malignant and where the cellular machinery goes off-track to allow that to happen.

From Nautilus

Without any synthetic chemicals introduced, the strategy sidesteps any opportunity for malignant fungi to develop resistances, she says.

From Science News

The Nigerian neurotech entrepreneur who speaks five languages has developed a modem-sized device that can sniff out explosives in public spaces and diseases, including malignant tumors in humans.

From Ozy

Castillo’s attempt to restructure the agency led to pushback from the rank and file, ranging from malignant noncompliance to blatant racism.

From Washington Post

And if trickle-down could start on a dinner napkin, surely the process of reversing its malignant effects can start with a book.

From The Daily Beast

Immigration showcases the other malignant GOP tumor: The rage of the base.

From The Daily Beast

Doctors have called these changes, pre-cancer or pre-malignant.

From The Daily Beast

Democracy works this way: it has non-violent means of purging malignant elements.

From The Daily Beast

Might either of the two bring up the malignant problems experienced by the Eurozone?

From The Daily Beast

But in a malignant war there is injustice of ignobler kind at once to God and man, which must be stemmed for both their sakes.

From Project Gutenberg

Here the proud state that claimed him as her own offspring, met him with the injustice of a malignant step-dame.

From Project Gutenberg

Mrs. Haight regarded the radiant young hostess with a malignant stare, prudently veiled by drooping lids.

From Project Gutenberg

They were framed with malignant ingenuity, so as to leave no chance of escape save in open apostasy.

From Project Gutenberg

Harry gave a disturbed, wondering look round, on seeing Edward's air of malignant satisfaction.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cancerous
• deadly
• destructive
• fatal
• lethal
• mortal

Malignant Vs. Benign

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.

Quiz yourself on malignant vs. benign!

Should malignant or benign be used in the following sentence?

I can assure you that my intentions are completely _____—I mean no harm.