Meaning & use
malignant
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparablemedical
In medicine, (of a tumor or disease) able to grow and spread, and often dangerous.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun: malignant tumor, malignant cells. Not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- malignant tumor
- malignant cells
- malignant disease
The scan showed a malignant tumor in her lung.
Malignant cells can travel through the blood to other parts of the body.
Doctors removed the malignant tissue during surgery.
adjectivecomparable
Extremely harmful, evil, or full of hatred.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after a linking verb: a malignant look; his intentions were malignant.
Patterns
- malignant look
- malignant influence
- malignant forces
He gave her a malignant glance that made her shiver.
The dictator's malignant policies destroyed the country.
She described the rumor as a malignant lie intended to hurt.
Word forms
| comparative | more malignant |
|---|---|
| superlative | most malignant |
Common combinations
- malignant tumor
- The biopsy confirmed it was a malignant tumor.
- malignant cells
- The treatment targets malignant cells while sparing healthy ones.
- malignant growth
- They found a malignant growth in his stomach.
- malignant melanoma
- Malignant melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cancerous
- More specific and neutral; used only for medical tumors, not for evil people or ideas.
- evil
- Stronger moral judgment; used for people and actions, not for medical conditions.
- harmful
- Weaker and more general; it means causing damage but not necessarily evil or cancerous.
Opposites
Word family
- malignancy noun
- A cancerous growth or the state of being malignant.
- malign verb
- To speak badly about someone; to say harmful things.
Commonly confused: malignant or benign? malignant or malinger?
malignant vs benign
Benign means not cancerous and not harmful; it is the opposite of malignant in medicine.
malignant vs malinger
Malinger means to pretend to be ill to avoid work; it sounds similar but has a very different meaning.
Practice
The doctor said the tumor was malignant. What does this mean?
Choose one answer.
Malignant means cancerous and able to spread. Option 0 describes benign, the opposite. Options 2 and 3 are not implied by the word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “malignant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.