malign Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb speak unfavorably about
    traduce; badmouth; drag through the mud.
    • She badmouths her husband everywhere
  2. adjective 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
  3. adjective satellite having or exerting a malignant influence
    malefic; evil; malevolent.
    • malevolent stars
    • a malefic force

WordNet

Ma*lign" adjective
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
Ma*lign" transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. L. malignare. See Malign, a.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Maligned ; present participle & verbal noun Maligning
Definitions
  1. 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.
Ma*lign" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To entertain malice. Obs.

Webster 1913