Malignant Meaning
/məˈlɪɡnənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHarmful, malevolent, injurious.
adjTending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.
Sentence Examples
Get fuller, sexier, more malignant lips today!
The tumor is malignant.
Various types of tumors exist, both benign and malignant.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor warned that the ____ tumor could spread quickly to other organs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor was relieved to find that the growth was not ____ and that it could be easily removed earlier.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French malignant, from Late Latin malignans. See malign.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]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:
"“[…] 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, →OCLC:
"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:
"A malignant in a position of real power immediately becomes a tyrant."
— 1999, National Institute of Business Management, Difficult People at Work, →ISBN, page 8:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor warned that the ____ tumor could spread quickly to other organs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor was relieved to find that the growth was not ____ and that it could be easily removed earlier.