as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
the reviewer was criticized not for his negative review of the singer's album but for the malignance with which he expressed his disapproval of her lavish lifestyle
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of malignance
This is a movement that many progressives view as promising to reinvigorate hearts and minds, but that others warn may deliver different doses of theological malignance.
—
Audrey Clare Farley, The New Republic, 3 Jan. 2022
Where purity culture twists normal desires into malignance?
—Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2021
By definition Mishler’s content attracts people seeking refuge, but the exceptional malignance of 2020 has colored both her videos and the attitude of her fan base.
—New York Times, 25 Nov. 2020
Consequently, the growth disruption itself has exacerbated the cultural and economic malignance that helped create the underperforming trend in the first place.
—David L. Bahnsen, National Review, 13 Feb. 2018
Audrey Clare Farley, The New Republic, 3 Jan. 2022
Where purity culture twists normal desires into malignance?
—Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2021
By definition Mishler’s content attracts people seeking refuge, but the exceptional malignance of 2020 has colored both her videos and the attitude of her fan base.
—New York Times, 25 Nov. 2020
Consequently, the growth disruption itself has exacerbated the cultural and economic malignance that helped create the underperforming trend in the first place.
—David L. Bahnsen, National Review, 13 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malignance
Noun
-
Shortly after, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping, rape and malice murder charges.—
Veronica Fulton,
NBC news,
31 Oct. 2025
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Potential adversaries interpret political action in zero-sum terms; see malice and evil design in mere blunders and coincidence; trumpet necessity rather than navigate choice; and, in extreme cases, invent pretext or promise profit to make more palatable a dubious cause.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Their venom is typically used to paralyze their prey, but is not thought to have an effect on the human nervous system.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
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What’s more, elapids are capable of producing particularly large quantities of venom and are often very large.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The film instead offers an intimate, unhurried exploration of human cruelty.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
31 Oct. 2025
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Politically, both parties are trading blame—Republicans citing fiscal law, Democrats accusing the administration of cruelty—while the court’s decision could set a lasting precedent for how federal agencies manage safety-net programs during funding lapses.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
My darling, hatred takes the beauty away.—
Tracee Ellis Ross,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
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Muschietti touched on this in his movies — the bullying of Mike Hanlon and the hate-crime murder of Adrian Mellon — including the way Pennywise fosters and foments the hatred already lurking in the hearts of Derry’s citizens.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Watch it for its skin-deep enticement, its powerful visual devices, but also its concealed malignancy.—
Sally Jenkins,
The Atlantic,
27 Oct. 2025
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One way to assess possible malignancy is irregularity of a growth, speed of growth, localized lymph node metastasis as evidenced by enlargement of the nodes, and more but there is no substitute for an FNA or removal and biopsy.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malignance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malignance. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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