malignant

[ muh-lig-nuhnt ]
See synonyms for malignant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. disposed to cause harm, suffering, or distress deliberately; feeling or showing ill will or hatred.

  2. very dangerous or harmful in influence or effect.

  1. Pathology.

    • tending to produce death, as bubonic plague.

    • (of a tumor) characterized by uncontrolled growth; cancerous, invasive, or metastatic.

Origin of malignant

1
First recorded in 1535–45; from Late Latin malignant-, stem of malignāns, present participle of malignāre “to act maliciously”; see malign, -ant

Other words for malignant

Opposites for malignant

Other words from malignant

  • ma·lig·nant·ly, adverb
  • non·ma·lig·nant, adjective
  • non·ma·lig·nant·ly, adverb
  • sem·i·ma·lig·nant, adjective
  • sem·i·ma·lig·nant·ly, adverb
  • un·ma·lig·nant, adjective
  • un·ma·lig·nant·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for malignant

malignant

/ (məˈlɪɡnənt) /


adjective
  1. having or showing desire to harm others

  2. tending to cause great harm; injurious

  1. pathol (of a tumour) uncontrollable or resistant to therapy; rapidly spreading

noun
  1. history (in the English Civil War) a Parliamentarian term for a royalist (def. 1)

Origin of malignant

1
C16: from Late Latin malīgnāre to behave spitefully, from Latin malīgnus malign

Derived forms of malignant

  • malignantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for malignant

malignant

[ mə-lĭgnənt ]


  1. Tending to have a destructive clinical course, as a malignant illness.

  2. Relating to cancer cells that are invasive and tend to metastasize. Malignant tumor cells are histologically more primitive than normal tissue. Compare benign.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for malignant

malignant

A descriptive term for things or conditions that threaten life or well-being. Malignant is the opposite of benign.

Notes for malignant

The term malignant is used in describing cancerous tumors (see cancer) because such growths are a threat to the health of the individual.

Notes for malignant

The term is often used in a general way to denote something that is both destructive and fast growing: “The malignant growth of the suburbs is destroying the landscape.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.