Malignity - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·lig·ni·ty

Audio Help [muh-lig-ni-tee] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ties for 2.

1.	the state or character of being malign; malevolence; intense ill will; spite.

2.	a malignant feeling, action, etc.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME malignitee < L malignitās. See malign, -ity

]

—Synonyms 1. See malevolence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Malignity

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·lig·ni·ty Audio Help (mə-lĭg'nĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ma·lig·ni·ties

1. Intense ill will or hatred; great malice.
2. An act or a feeling of great malice.
The condition or quality of being highly dangerous or injurious; deadliness.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

malignity
noun
1.	wishing evil to others [syn: malevolence] [ant: benevolence]
2.	quality of being disposed to evil; intense ill will [ant: benignancy]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Malignity

Mal"ice\, n. [F. malice, fr. L. malitia, from malus bad, ill, evil, prob. orig., dirty, black; cf. Gr. ? black, Skr. mala dirt. Cf. Mauger.]

1. Enmity of heart; malevolence; ill will; a spirit delighting in harm or misfortune to another; a disposition to injure another; a malignant design of evil. "Nor set down aught in malice." --Shak.

Envy, hatred, and malice are three distinct passions of the mind. --Ld. Holt.

2. (Law) Any wicked or mischievous intention of the mind; a depraved inclination to mischief; an intention to vex, annoy, or injure another person, or to do a wrongful act without just cause or cause or excuse; a wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others; willfulness.

Malice aforethought or prepense, malice previously and deliberately entertained.

Syn: Spite; ill will; malevolence; grudge; pique; bitterness; animosity; malignity; maliciousness; rancor; virulence.

Usage: See Spite. -- Malevolence, Malignity, Malignancy. Malice is a stronger word than malevolence, which may imply only a desire that evil may befall another, while malice desires, and perhaps intends, to bring it about. Malignity is intense and deepseated malice. It implies a natural delight in hating and wronging others. One who is malignant must be both malevolent and malicious; but a man may be malicious without being malignant.

Proud tyrants who maliciously destroy And ride o'er ruins with malignant joy. --Somerville.

in some connections, malignity seems rather more pertinently applied to a radical depravity of nature, and malignancy to indications of this depravity, in temper and conduct in particular instances. --Cogan.

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