Essential Word Roots: Bene and Mal

Prepare for the TOEFL Exam by learning these words that contain the word roots bene ("good") and mal ("bad").
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. benefactor
    a person who helps people or institutions
    He does just that, becoming a wealthy benefactor of the impoverished, a generous and kind man beyond compare. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age
  2. beneficial
    promoting or enhancing well-being
    Education at any stage of life is beneficial for brain health, from an online course to classes at your local community center or college. Los Angeles Times (Jun 2, 2017)
  3. beneficiary
    the recipient of funds or other advantages
    Nor were they beneficiaries of the billions of dollars' worth of food aid that poured into North Korea. Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
  4. benefit
    something that aids or promotes well-being
    One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by. The Glass Castle
  5. benevolent
    showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding
    She smiles down upon them, always the same benevolent smile, and is described as radiant. Cat's Eye
  6. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
    There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore’s face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
  7. dismal
    causing dejection
    People like to predict the future, often a dismal future, but the future is not written. The Guardian (Jun 18, 2017)
  8. malady
    impairment of normal physiological function
    It's the latest health problem for the 68-year-old singer, who's also been fighting cancer and other maladies. Seattle Times (Jan 2, 2013)
  9. malcontent
    a person who is unsatisfied or disgusted
    He said the institute was a dysfunctional workplace filled with malcontents who resented his efforts to turn things around. Washington Post (Dec 19, 2015)
  10. malice
    the desire to see others suffer
    It still surprises me to hear such malice in his voice. Red Queen
  11. malicious
    having the nature of threatening evil
    I nodded and smiled back, then I realized there was something malicious in her smile. The Glass Castle
  12. malign
    speak unfavorably about
    My mother took note of anyone who maligned any characteristic of her husband or anything associated with him. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  13. malignant
    dangerous to health
    It was not clear whether the lesion was benign or malignant. Reuters (May 24, 2017)
  14. malodorous
    having an unpleasant smell
    Malodorous trash piled up on the sidewalks of Beirut in August after the government closed a main landfill, suspending garbage collection. US News (Sep 1, 2015)
  15. malware
    a computer program designed to have harmful effects
    Apple CEO Tim Cook has long claimed the tightly controlled store is necessary to weed out malware, scams and other unsavory apps. Seattle Times (Aug 26, 2021)
Created on Thu Sep 09 17:35:33 EDT 2021 (updated Tue Sep 14 12:52:28 EDT 2021)

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