Meanings
comparative more malignant · superlative most malignant
- Harmful, malevolent, injurious.
malignant temper; malignant revenge; malignant infection
1 more example
[…]while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it.
1863 August 26, Abraham Lincoln, Letter to James Conkling, page 7 - medicineTending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.
a malignant tumor
2 more examples
malignant diphtheria
“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes[…]. And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”
1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLCAntonyms: benign, non-malignant
plural malignants
- A deviant; a person who is hostile or destructive to society.
A malignant in a position of real power immediately becomes a tyrant.
1999, National Institute of Business Management, Difficult People at Work, →ISBN, page 81 more example
As devout Stephen was carried to his burial by devout men, so is it just and equal that malignants should carry malignants […]
1823, The Retrospective Review, volume 7, page 11 - derogatoryhistoricalobsoleteA person who fought for Charles I in the English Civil War.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveTending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinmalignans
- Middle Frenchmalignant
- Englishmalignant
From Middle French malignant, from Late Latin malignans. See malign.
More words from Middle French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κακοήθης, κακοήθης
- κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs)(medicine) tending to produce death
Basque gaizto, gaizto
- gaiztoharmful, malevolent, injurious
- gaizto(medicine) tending to produce death
Bulgarian зловреден, злокачествен
- зловреден (zlovreden)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- злокачествен (zlokačestven)(medicine) tending to produce death
Catalan maligne, maligne
- maligneharmful, malevolent, injurious
- maligne(medicine) tending to produce death
Czech zhoubný, maligní
- zhoubný(medicine) tending to produce death
- maligní(medicine) tending to produce death
Dutch kwaadaardig, kwaadaardig
- kwaadaardigharmful, malevolent, injurious
- kwaadaardig(medicine) tending to produce death
Finnish pahantahtoinen, vahingollinen
- pahantahtoinenharmful, malevolent, injurious
- vahingollinenharmful, malevolent, injurious
- pahanlaatuinen(medicine) tending to produce death
French malin, malveillant
- malinharmful, malevolent, injurious
- malveillantharmful, malevolent, injurious
- malin(medicine) tending to produce death
German bösartig, bösartig
- bösartigharmful, malevolent, injurious
- bösartig(medicine) tending to produce death
- malign(medicine) tending to produce death
Greek κακοήθης, κακοήθης
- κακοήθης (kakoḯthis)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- κακοήθης (kakoḯthis)(medicine) tending to produce death
Hungarian rosszindulatú, rosszindulatú
- rosszindulatúharmful, malevolent, injurious
- rosszindulatú(medicine) tending to produce death
Indonesian berbahaya
- berbahayaharmful, malevolent, injurious
Irish aingí, ainciseach
- aingíharmful, malevolent, injurious
- ainciseach(medicine) tending to produce death
- urchóideach(medicine) tending to produce death
Italian maligno, malevolo
- malignoharmful, malevolent, injurious
- malevoloharmful, malevolent, injurious
- maligno(medicine) tending to produce death
Japanese 潑
- 潑 (hatsu)harmful, malevolent, injurious
Lithuanian piktybinis
- piktybinis(medicine) tending to produce death
Māori orotā
- orotā(medicine) tending to produce death
Norwegian Bokmål ondartet, malign
- ondartet(medicine) tending to produce death
- malign(medicine) tending to produce death
Persian بدخیم
- بدخیم (bad-xim)(medicine) tending to produce death
Polish szkodliwy, złośliwy
- szkodliwyharmful, malevolent, injurious
- złośliwy(medicine) tending to produce death
Portuguese maligno, maligno
- malignoharmful, malevolent, injurious
- maligno(medicine) tending to produce death
Russian зловре́дный, болезнетво́рный
- зловре́дный (zlovrédnyj)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- болезнетво́рный (boleznetvórnyj)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- злока́чественный (zlokáčestvennyj)(medicine) tending to produce death
Spanish maligno, maligno
- malignoharmful, malevolent, injurious
- maligno(medicine) tending to produce death
Swedish malign, elakartad
- malign(medicine) tending to produce death
- elakartad(medicine) tending to produce death
Turkish zararlı, kötü
- zararlıharmful, malevolent, injurious
- kötüharmful, malevolent, injurious
- kötü huylu(medicine) tending to produce death
- habis(medicine) tending to produce death
Ukrainian злий, злі́бний
- злий (zlyj)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- злі́бний (zlíbnyj)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- шкідли́вий (škidlývyj)harmful, malevolent, injurious
- злоя́кісний (zlojákisnyj)(medicine) tending to produce death
Cite this entry
malignant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malignant
“malignant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malignant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malignant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malignant.
Source: malignant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.