Synonym Chooser

How does the noun malignity differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of malignity are grudge, ill will, malevolence, malice, spite, and spleen. While all these words mean "the desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress," malignity implies deep passion and relentlessness.

a life consumed by motiveless malignity

When would grudge be a good substitute for malignity?

Although the words grudge and malignity have much in common, grudge implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction.

never one to harbor a grudge

In what contexts can ill will take the place of malignity?

The synonyms ill will and malignity are sometimes interchangeable, but ill will implies a feeling of antipathy of limited duration.

ill will provoked by a careless remark

When might malevolence be a better fit than malignity?

The meanings of malevolence and malignity largely overlap; however, malevolence suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct.

a look of dark malevolence

When is malice a more appropriate choice than malignity?

The words malice and malignity can be used in similar contexts, but malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer.

felt no malice toward their former enemies

When can spite be used instead of malignity?

While in some cases nearly identical to malignity, spite implies petty feelings of envy and resentment that are often expressed in small harassments.

petty insults inspired by spite

Where would spleen be a reasonable alternative to malignity?

While the synonyms spleen and malignity are close in meaning, spleen suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice.

venting his spleen against politicians

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 malignity His Cyrano is the play’s hero, even if the character’s psychological limitations are as much a factor in the story as the machinations of De Guiche, whose malignity is sent up in Nathanson’s flamboyantly comic turn. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2024 For a decade, the central drama of Trumpism has concerned the Republican élites who continued to support him—the story has been about their malignity, or opportunism, or willful moral blindness. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2023 Though Bilger does not quite say so, his grandfather emerges as a case study in the capacity for compartmentalization that is arguably more destructive of morality than outright malignity. Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 20 July 2023 In a landscape of such confused malignity as capital-p Publishing, who actually suffers from an act like June’s? Zoe Hu, Washington Post, 12 May 2023 American exceptionalism has two faces, equally transfixed with a sense of specialness—one radiant with the nation’s unique beneficence, the other sunk in its unrivaled malignity. George Packer, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for malignity
Noun
  • More than avoiding malice, we are called to take responsibility for the impact of our words.
    Andrew Weinstein, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Understand that controlling behaviors may stem from fear and insecurity rather than malice.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Victims of a snake bite are advised not to try to remove the venom themselves or to tie off the bite area.
    Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Wolf spider bites are not poisonous and won't cause sores or body-wide symptoms from its venom.
    Carrie Madormo, Health, 6 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • But her private letters to her sister Cassandra show a sharper and more astringent person, someone whose cruelty and bitterness were redeemed only by her jokes.
    Lucy Worsley September 16, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Justice came for Petal when her previous owner was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals on September 12, a press release from CGHS stated.
    Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Foreign perpetrators have been linked to previous acts intended to incite hatred.
    Saskya Vandoorne, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The left is always, at all times and places, a violent phenomenon full of hatred.
    Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 11 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Malignity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malignity. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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