I. məˈlīn adjective
Etymology: Middle English maligne, from Middle French, from Latin malignus, from male badly + -ignus (as in benignus benign) — more at mal-
1.
a. : evil in nature, influence, or effect : injurious , baleful
prompted by malign motives
living in a malign environment
b. : malignant , virulent
a malign lesion
2.
a. : having or showing or indicative of intense often vicious ill will : intensely hostile : malevolent
gave him a malign look
b. : desiring or taking pleasure in the sufferings of others
believed in the existence of witches and malign spirits
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English malignen, from Middle French maligner, from Late Latin malignare, malignari, to act maliciously, from Latin malignus
intransitive verb
obsolete : to speak, think, or act malevolently
transitive verb
1. obsolete
a. : to regard with intense ill will or with bitter dislike or hatred
b. : resent , begrudge
2. : to utter injuriously misleading or deliberately and injuriously false reports about : induce misunderstanding of and lower regard for by falsehood or misrepresentation
gossips had maligned the lady — George Meredith
Synonyms:
calumniate , asperse , vilify , traduce , defame , slander , libel : malign may suggest malevolent calculation as a motivating force and specific and subtle misrepresentations and falseholds as instruments
little doubt that Lytton Strachey and other British historians have maligned Ward in order to build up the fame of “Chinese” Gordon — Richard Watts
The past participle may be less severe in suggestion and apply to the role of innocent reiteration in conditioning a reputation
in view of Hans Heysen's studies of this maligned and slandered tree, its beauty is clear enough — Thomas Wood †1950
calumniate involves malice against the victim, is used more often in connection with public affairs and figures, and suggests blackening of the general reputation
calumniating him as a traitor in satisfying his ancient personal grudge
asperse may suggest continued attack on a reputation, sometimes by direct false accusation but often by covert depreciating insinuation
one may not admire it, but one can no longer asperse the integrity of those who do — Times Literary Supplement
vilify may suggest a direct ranting or railing abuse without subtlety, an attempt to make vile and shameful
should not be vilified in newspapers, for that is want of tact and waste of space — Rudyard Kipling
his circumlocutions are roundly called lies, and his silence is vilified as treachery — W.S.Maugham
traduce is the least rich in connotation in this series. More than the preceding words, it may suggest success in derogation
fear of this witch of the East [Cleopatra], shamelessly traduced by Octavian's agents, hagrode the popular mind — John Buchan
defame stresses actual loss of reputation brought about by malicious charges
defaming and defacing, till she left not even Lancelot brave nor Galahad clean — Alfred Tennyson
slander connotes nasty maliciousness in motivation, oral utterance, frequently covert, and definite suffering or loss for the victim
you would darkly slander him you cannot openly defame — E.G.Bulwer-Lytton
he was rector until the new governor listened to some cock-and-bull story against him, and made him resign. He was the best preacher they ever had — he'd have been a bishop one day, if someone hadn't slandered him to the governor — R.A.W.Hughes
libel , more legalistic than the others in this series, is much the same as slander in its connotations, except that it may imply issuance of the defamatory matter in wider and more permanent media than slander. In legal or legalistic use denotations and connotations of words in this series vary in different jurisdictions