Standard Lemma guide

malignant

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /məˈlɪɡnənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH0 L IH1 G N AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Harmful, malevolent, injurious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • malignant temper; malignant revenge; malignant infection

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: malicious, malign, malefic

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • malignant diphtheria
  • a malignant tumor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: benign, non-malignant

3

noun

Meaning 3

A deviant; a person who is hostile or destructive to society.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A person who fought for Charles I in the English Civil War.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, historical, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

dangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: benign

History

Etymology

From Middle French malignant, from Late Latin malignans. See malign.

Across languages

Translations

73 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: gaizto — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Bulgarian: зловреден (zlovreden) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Catalan: maligne — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Dutch: kwaadaardig — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Finnish: pahantahtoinen — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Finnish: vahingollinen — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • French: malin — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • French: malveillant — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • German: bösartig — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḯthis) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Ancient Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Hungarian: rosszindulatú — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Indonesian: berbahaya — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Irish: aingí — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Italian: maligno — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Italian: malevolo — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Japanese: 潑 (hatsu) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Macedonian: зло́ќуден (zlóḱuden) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Plautdietsch: fientlich — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Polish: szkodliwy — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Portuguese: maligno — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Russian: зловре́дный (zlovrédnyj) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Russian: болезнетво́рный (boleznetvórnyj) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Serbo-Croatian: малѝга̄н — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Serbo-Croatian: зло̀ћудан — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Serbo-Croatian: màlīgan — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Serbo-Croatian: zlòćudan — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Spanish: maligno — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Turkish: zararlı — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Turkish: kötü — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Ukrainian: злий (zlyj) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Ukrainian: злі́бний (zlíbnyj) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Ukrainian: шкідли́вий (škidlývyj) — harmful, malevolent, injurious
  • Armenian: չարորակ (čʻarorak) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Azerbaijani: bədxassəli — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Azerbaijani: yaman — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Basque: gaizto — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Bulgarian: злокачествен (zlokačestven) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Catalan: maligne — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Czech: zhoubný — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Czech: maligní — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Dutch: kwaadaardig — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Finnish: pahanlaatuinen — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • French: malin — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • German: bösartig — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • German: malign — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḯthis) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Ancient Greek: κακοήθης (kakoḗthēs) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Hungarian: rosszindulatú — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Irish: ainciseach — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Irish: urchóideach — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Italian: maligno — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Lithuanian: piktybinis — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Macedonian: злока́чествен (zlokáčestven) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Māori: orotā — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ondartet — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Norwegian Bokmål: malign — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: vondarta — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: malign — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Persian: بدخیم (bad-xim) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Polish: złośliwy — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Portuguese: maligno — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Russian: злока́чественный (zlokáčestvennyj) — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Serbo-Croatian: малѝга̄н — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Serbo-Croatian: зло̀ћудан — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Serbo-Croatian: màlīgan — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Serbo-Croatian: zlòćudan — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Spanish: maligno — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Swedish: malign — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Swedish: elakartad — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Turkish: kötü huylu — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Turkish: habis — (medicine) tending to produce death
  • Ukrainian: злоя́кісний (zlojákisnyj) — (medicine) tending to produce death
Real reading context

malignant in complete knowledge articles