as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
her irrepressible malignancy was such that she even attacked her friends behind their backs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of malignancy
For children who received a head CT, the researchers attributed about a quarter of their hematologic malignancies that followed to the radiation exposure.
—
Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Epstein Barr virus, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and Human Papilloma Virus are all associated with actually causing malignancy in humans.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 2 Aug. 2025
However, for anyone who has observed Trump’s public life, his malignancy and malevolence have always been obvious.
—Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
Nearly 2 million Americans are diagnosed with malignancies every year.
—Rachana Pradhan, CNN Money, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for malignancy
Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
Epstein Barr virus, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and Human Papilloma Virus are all associated with actually causing malignancy in humans.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 2 Aug. 2025
However, for anyone who has observed Trump’s public life, his malignancy and malevolence have always been obvious.
—Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
Nearly 2 million Americans are diagnosed with malignancies every year.
—Rachana Pradhan, CNN Money, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for malignancy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malignancy
Noun
-
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
-
This was all in jest though and while many would object to making homophobia a joke, there didn’t appear to be actual malice behind it, at least from a superficial look.—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
My darling, hatred takes the beauty away.—
Tracee Ellis Ross,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
-
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
-
Being tied to the mast of a regime defined by cruelty and graft is a problem of another magnitude entirely.—
Dónal Gill,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
-
After shifting power to the people—like a year-plus bus boycott can do, for example—and getting the government to lessen its corruption, cruelty, injustice or violence, defending those gains is a must.—
Michael Shank,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Malignancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malignancy. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share