malign - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: malign

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

ma·lign

Audio Help [muh-lahyn] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to speak harmful untruths about; speak evil of; slander; defame: to malign an honorable man.

–adjective

2.	evil in effect; pernicious; baleful; injurious: The gloomy house had a malign influence upon her usually good mood.

3.	having or showing an evil disposition; malevolent; malicious.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME maligne < MF < L malignus. See mal-, benign

]

—Related forms

ma·lign·er, noun

ma·lign·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. libel, calumniate; disparage; revile, abuse, vilify. 2. baneful.

—Antonyms 1. praise.

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

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malign

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ma·lign Audio Help   (mə-līn') Pronunciation Key
tr.v.   ma·ligned, ma·lign·ing, ma·ligns
To make evil, harmful, and often untrue statements about; speak evil of.

adj.

Evil in disposition, nature, or intent.
Evil in influence; injurious.
Having or showing malice or ill will; malevolent.

[Middle English malignen, to attack, from Old French malignier, from Late Latin malignārī, from Latin malignus, malign; see genə- in Indo-European roots. Adj., from Middle English, from Old French, from Latin malignus.]

ma·lign'er n., ma·lign'ly adv.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to make evil, harmful, often untrue statements about another. Malign stresses malicious intent: "Have I not taken your part when you were maligned?" (Thackeray).
Defame suggests damage to reputation through misrepresentation: The plaintiff had been defamed and had legitimate grounds for a lawsuit.
Traduce connotes the resulting humiliation or disgrace: "My character was traduced by Captain Hawkins . . . even the ship's company cried out shame" (Frederick Marryat).
Vilify pertains to open, deliberate, vicious defamation: "One who belongs to the most vilified and persecuted minority in history is not likely to be insensible to the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution" (Felix Frankfurter).
To asperse is to spread unfavorable charges or insinuations against: "Who could be so base as to asperse the character of a family so harmless as ours?" (Oliver Goldsmith).
Slander and calumniate apply to oral expression: He slandered his political opponent. She calumniated and ridiculed her former employer.
Libel involves the communication of written or pictorial material: The celebrity sued the tabloid that libeled her. See Also Synonyms at sinister.

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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.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
malign (adj.)

c.1315, from O.Fr. malign "having an evil nature," from L. malignus "wicked, bad-natured," from male "badly" + -gnus "born," from gignere "to bear, beget," from PIE base *gn- "to bear" (see genus). The verb meaning "to slander" is 1647, from earlier more literal sense of "to plot, to contrive" (c.1430), from O.Fr. malignier, from L. malignare "to do maliciously," from malignus.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

malign
adjective
1.	evil or harmful in nature or influence; "prompted by malign motives"; "believed in witches and malign spirits"; "gave him a malign look"; "a malign lesion" [ant: benign]
2.	having or exerting a malignant influence; "malevolent stars"; "a malefic force" [syn: malefic]
verb
1.	speak unfavorably about; "She badmouths her husband everywhere" [syn: badmouth]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
malign [məˈlain] verb

to say unpleasant things about (someone or something), especially without reason
Example: He's always maligning his wife when she isn't there.

Arabic:	يَطْعَنُ في، يَقْدَح في شَخْصٍ بَريء
Chinese (Simplified):	诽谤
Chinese (Traditional):	誹謗
Czech:	pomlouvat
Danish:	bagtale
Dutch:	belasteren
Estonian:	laimama
Finnish:	panetella
French:	dire du mal de
German:	verleumden
Greek:	κακολογώ
Hungarian:	befeketít
Icelandic:	rægja
Indonesian:	memfitnah
Italian:	malignare su, sparlare di

Japanese:	悪口を言う
Korean:	헐뜯다, 나쁘게 말하다
Latvian:	apmelot; aprunāt
Lithuanian:	apkalbėti
Norwegian:	rakke ned på, snakke stygt om
Polish:	oczerniać
Portuguese (Brazil):	falar mal de
Portuguese (Portugal):	caluniar
Romanian:	a vorbi de rău
Russian:	злословить
Slovak:	ohovárať
Slovenian:	obrekovati
Spanish:	calumniar, difamar
Swedish:	baktala
Turkish:	iftira etmek, kara çalmak

See also: malignant

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

Malign

Ma*lign"\, a. [L. malignus, for maligenus, i. e., of a bad kind or nature; malus bad + the root of genus birth, race, kind: cf. F. malin, masc., maligne, fem. See Malice, Gender, and cf. Benign, Malignant.]

1. Having an evil disposition toward others; harboring violent enmity; malevolent; malicious; spiteful; -- opposed to benign.

Witchcraft may be by operation of malign spirits. --Bacon.

2. Unfavorable; unpropitious; pernicious; tending to injure; as, a malign aspect of planets.

3. Malignant; as, a malign ulcer. [R.] --Bacon.

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

Malign

Ma*lign"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Maligned; p. pr. & vb. n. Maligning.] [Cf. L. malignare. See Malign, a.] To treat with malice; to show hatred toward; to abuse; to wrong; to injure. [Obs.]

The people practice what mischiefs and villainies they will against private men, whom they malign by stealing their goods, or murdering them. --Spenser.

2. To speak great evil of; to traduce; to defame; to slander; to vilify; to asperse.

To be envied and shot at; to be maligned standing, and to be despised falling. --South.

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

Malign

Ma*lign"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Maligned; p. pr. & vb. n. Maligning.] [Cf. L. malignare. See Malign, a.] To treat with malice; to show hatred toward; to abuse; to wrong; to injure. [Obs.]

The people practice what mischiefs and villainies they will against private men, whom they malign by stealing their goods, or murdering them. --Spenser.

2. To speak great evil of; to traduce; to defame; to slander; to vilify; to asperse.

To be envied and shot at; to be maligned standing, and to be despised falling. --South.

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