malignant

adjective

ma·lig·nant | \ mə-ˈlig-nənt

Definition of malignant

1 : tending to produce death or deterioration malignant malaria especially : tending to infiltrate, metastasize, and terminate fatally a malignant tumor

2a : evil in nature, influence, or effect : injurious a powerful and malignant influence

b : passionately and relentlessly malevolent : aggressively malicious the malignant tongues of gossipers

c obsolete : malcontent, disaffected

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Examples of malignant in a Sentence

a highly malignant form of cancer a powerful and malignant influence

Recent Examples on the Web

Early multicellular organisms would also have needed to develop defenses against invading malignant cells from other organisms, or transmissible cancers. — Jon Kelvey, Smithsonian, "The Evolution of Sex Could Have Provided a Defense Against Cancer Cells," 11 June 2019 Doctors have a better chance of not leaving behind parts of a malignant tumor. — WSJ, "Is Robotic Prostate Surgery Better Than Traditional Surgery?," 24 June 2018 Take a drug that wipes out malignant cells in lung cancer but is inconsistent in its ability to kill pancreatic cancer cells. — Roger D. Klein, WSJ, "Price Drugs According to What They Do," 8 Jan. 2019 Married people are more likely than the unmarried to get timely diagnosis and treatment for malignant skin cancer. — Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, "Married People Less Likely to Die From Melanoma," 18 Apr. 2018 The nodules were removed during Friday’s surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and found to be malignant. — Brent Kendall, WSJ, "Justice Ginsburg Has Cancerous Growths Removed From Lung," 21 Dec. 2018 According to the thoracic surgeon, Valerie W. Rusch, MD, FACS, both nodules removed during surgery were found to be malignant on initial pathology evaluation. — Sarah Kliff, Vox, "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery for malignant lung growths," 21 Dec. 2018 In fact, most masses this form of screening discovers are not malignant, the ACS explains. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Why Is the 5-Year Survival Rate for Ovarian Cancer So Low?," 21 Nov. 2018 Alarmingly, the lab results came back positive for tremolite asbestos, a toxic substance which, if inhaled, can cause malignant mesothelioma decades later, according to the National Cancer Institute. — Blake Bakkila, Good Housekeeping, "UPDATE: FDA Claims Three Claire's Products Have Tested Positive for Asbestos," 6 Mar. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'malignant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

19 Jun 2019

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Time Traveler for malignant

The first known use of malignant was in 1542

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More Definitions for malignant

malignant

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of malignant

medical : very serious and dangerous : tending or likely to grow and spread in a rapid and uncontrolled way that can cause death

formal : very evil

See the full definition for malignant in the English Language Learners Dictionary

malignant

adjective

ma·lig·nant | \ mə-ˈlig-nənt

Kids Definition of malignant

1 : malicious

2 : likely to cause death : deadly

malignant

adjective

ma·lig·nant | \ mə-ˈlig-nənt

Medical Definition of malignant

1 : tending to produce death or deterioration malignant malaria especially : tending to infiltrate, metastasize, and terminate fatally malignant tumors — compare benign sense 1

2 : of unfavorable prognosis : not responding favorably to treatment psychotic reactions with a malignant trend