malign

/məˈlaɪn/

Other forms: maligned; maligning; maligns

If you malign someone, you badmouth them — just like the jilted girlfriend who tells the whole school her ex has bad breath and head lice.

When you habitually malign people, you risk being described as "a malign influence" — in this case, malign is an adjective that describes a harmful or even evil person or thing. Whichever way you use the word, its connection to wickedness can be found in its Latin root, malignus, "wicked or bad-natured," which combines male, or "badly" and -gnus, "born."

Definitions of malign

1. verb

   speak unfavorably about
   synonyms: badmouth, drag through the mud, traduce

   type of:

   asperse, besmirch, calumniate, defame, denigrate, slander, smear, smirch, sully

   charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
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”

   synonyms:

   maleficent

   harmful or evil in intent or effect

   cancerous

   spreading or growing in an evil or unpleasant way

   harmful

   causing or capable of causing harm

   unkind

   lacking kindness

   antonyms:

   benign

   pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence

   kindly

   pleasant and agreeable

   harmless

   not causing or capable of causing harm

   kind

   having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
3. adjective

   having or exerting a malignant influence
   synonyms: evil, malefic, malevolent

   maleficent

   harmful or evil in intent or effect