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When a word's got mal- in it, it's no good. That prefix traces to the Latin word malus (which means "bad"), and it puts the negative vibes in both the verb and adjective forms of malign (from the Latin malignus, meaning "evil in nature") and a host of other English words. You can see it in malpractice (bad medical practice) and malady (a bad condition, such as a disease or illness, of the body or mind). A malefactor is someone guilty of bad deeds, and malice is a desire to cause injury, pain, or distress to another person. Other mal- formed words include malaise, malcontent, maladroit, malodorous, and malnourished.
Synonyms
Examples of malign in a Sentence
David Meyer, Fortune, 11 Dec. 2023
This is the president who spent his first year in office delaying missile tests so as not to provoke Russia, and who couldn’t bring himself to kill a malign Russian pipeline project that would have put a noose around Ukraine’s stability and security.
—The Editors, National Review, 10 Nov. 2023
In the context of Oxford in the early 1980s, that meant arguing that American influence on the world was not entirely malign.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 12 Sep. 2023
As if in a malign fairy tale, Gilly basically conjures disaster.
—Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2023
Myrna also finds her personal space infiltrated by a malign presence.
—Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2022
The Trump administration argued that the sunset provisions were a fatal flaw to the agreement and also that the agreement failed to account for Iran's missile program and its malign regional activities, including its support to international terrorist organizations.
—CBS News, 5 Jan. 2022
Rather, the effect was to make Dominion appear as a deliberately malign actor.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 19 Mar. 2023
About foreign countries exerting malign influence on the U.S. through electric vehicles?
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 30 Jan. 2023
Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024
During that trial, Trump publicly attacked a key witness in both cases and was subjected to a gag order for maligning the judge's clerk.
—Katrina Kaufman, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2024
A number of justices also expressed concern about curbing legitimate government responsibility in matters of public safety, such as flagging accounts of malign foreign actors or protecting teenagers from dangerous viral trends.
—Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
But in both eras, the scientists, they're maligned either by people in society or by these alien life forces.
—Lauren Goode, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
But they’re nearly universally maligned—and science backs up their ineffectiveness.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024
And the economic effect of the SEC’s new regulations will be malign.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 Mar. 2024
Decaf Is Good, Actually Decaf coffee is unfairly maligned.
—Jaina Grey, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
Boettcher said in his complaint that after leaving the company, Hobbs and her husband maligned Real Food Daily on social media and encouraged former employees to file lawsuits against the company.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'malign.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Adjective
Middle English maligne, from Anglo-French, from Latin malignus, from male badly + gignere to beget — more at mal-, kin
Verb
Middle English, from Anglo-French maligner to act maliciously, from Late Latin malignari, from Latin malignus — see malign entry 1
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined above
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Dictionary Entries Near malign
Cite this Entry
“Malign.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malign. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
malign
1 of 2 adjective
malign
2 of 2 verb
More from Merriam-Webster on malign
Nglish: Translation of malign for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of malign for Arabic Speakers
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