MALIGNED Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

maligned

verb

Definition of maligned

past tense of malign

as in libeled

to make untrue and harmful statements about a candidate who believes that it is possible to win an election without maligning anyone

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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 maligned What is often maligned as one of the worst tracks for racing due to the lack of overtaking opportunities will now have an extra race, surely opening the door for even more criticism. — Luke Smith, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026 Slack continues to be a bright spot in the results — a major reversal from a couple years ago, when the company was maligned for paying too much to acquire the workplace messaging app during the Covid-19 pandemic. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026 City Hall is extending the deadline for New Yorkers seeking an exemption to the highly controversial — and much maligned —pied-à-terre tax law, Mayor Mamdani announced Saturday. — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 1 Aug. 2026 Many nutrition researchers say seed oils have been unfairly maligned. — Maria Godoy, NPR, 21 July 2026 Naturally, Orr grew up rooting against Kansas whenever the schools met and was much maligned by his peers for it. — Latif Love july 16, Kansas City Star, 16 July 2026 But injuries quickly maligned lofty plans for the Sky, who gave up significant draft capital — including their first-round pick in 2028 — to piece together this roster. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2026 Trump has repeatedly maligned Haitian immigrants, including falsely accusing Haitians living in Ohio of eating people’s pets. — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 26 June 2026 Eric Zitzewitz, another co-author of the 2008 paper and a professor at Dartmouth, suggested that while gambling-like behavior may be happening on prediction markets, the platforms may be getting unfairly maligned. — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 21 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for maligned

Verb

One prank involved Quan, Capshaw, and Harrison Ford surprising Spielberg with ice cream smeared all over their faces for one take.

— Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2026
The bombshell discovery in the little red dot spectra was that the colors of hydrogen were smeared out across multiple shades.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of smeared

Verb

But Timothy Leary’s version became the dominant idea of psychedelics, and when President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs began, psychedelics were vilified as the gateway to ruin.

— Claire Hoffman, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
But the backlash against pandemic responses, including vaccine mandates, led to the vaccines and mRNA technology being vilified by some and becoming the focus of widespread misinformation.

— Rob Stein, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of vilified

Verb

But the Saudis, humiliated by their losses in Yemen, seem likely to lash out.

— Kareem Fahim, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
When she and the other part-time employees were told their positions were being eliminated, Valcarcel said she felt humiliated and disrespected.

— Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of humiliated

Verb

Eugenie, who is twelfth in line to the British throne, is the second daughter of King Charles III’s disgraced younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

— Jack Guy, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
The pair’s announcement comes shortly after RadarOnline reported that Eugenie’s father, disgraced former Prince Andrew, will not meet Adelaide in person.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of disgraced

Verb

The issue here is not with this project, which is building something artistic and beautiful, but with a broader, pro-AI tech culture that has discredited AI and its public image.

— James Folta, Literary Hub, 14 Sep. 2026
At the same time, the war on terror fueled an alarming rise in xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment and discredited the country’s political and foreign policy elites.

— Daniel Benjamin, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of discredited

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malignantly

maligned

maligning

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“Maligned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maligned. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of maligned

verb

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