Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to malign
Participle: maligned
Gerund: maligning
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | malign |
| you | malign |
| he;she;it | maligns |
| we | malign |
| you | malign |
| they | malign |
Perfect
| I | have maligned |
| you | have maligned |
| he;she;it | has maligned |
| we | have maligned |
| you | have maligned |
| they | have maligned |
Past
| I | maligned |
| you | maligned |
| he;she;it | maligned |
| we | maligned |
| you | maligned |
| they | maligned |
Pluperfect
| I | had maligned |
| you | had maligned |
| he;she;it | had maligned |
| we | had maligned |
| you | had maligned |
| they | had maligned |
Future
| I | will malign |
| you | will malign |
| he;she;it | will malign |
| we | will malign |
| you | will malign |
| they | will malign |
Future Perfect
| I | will have maligned |
| you | will have maligned |
| he;she;it | will have maligned |
| we | will have maligned |
| you | will have maligned |
| they | will have maligned |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | malign |
| you | malign |
| he;she;it | malign |
| we | malign |
| you | malign |
| they | malign |
Perfect
| I | have maligned |
| you | have maligned |
| he;she;it | have maligned |
| we | have maligned |
| you | have maligned |
| they | have maligned |
Imperfect
| I | maligned |
| you | maligned |
| he;she;it | maligned |
| we | maligned |
| you | maligned |
| they | maligned |
Pluperfect
| I | had maligned |
| you | had maligned |
| he;she;it | had maligned |
| we | had maligned |
| you | had maligned |
| they | had maligned |
Conditional
Present
| I | would malign |
| you | would malign |
| he;she;it | would malign |
| we | would malign |
| you | would malign |
| they | would malign |
Perfect
| I | would have maligned |
| you | would have maligned |
| he;she;it | would have maligned |
| we | would have maligned |
| you | would have maligned |
| they | would have maligned |
Imperative
| you | malign |
| we | Let's malign |
| you | malign |
Verbs conjugated like 'malign'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'malign'
align,
alien,
coalign,
dealign,
main,
malice,
misalign,
raign,
realign,
alias,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- To make false defamatory statements about someone.
- defame
- accuse
- libel, slander, vilify, disparage, defame, insult, calumniate, asperse
Antonyms
- accuse
- vindicate, exonerate, pardon, acquit
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1315, from O.Fr. malign "having an evil nature," from L. malignus "wicked, bad-natured," from male "badly" + -gnus "born," from gignere "to bear, beget," from PIE base *gn- "to bear" (see genus). The verb meaning "to slander" is 1647, from earlier more literal sense of "to plot, to contrive" (c.1430), from O.Fr. malignier, from L. malignare "to do maliciously," from malignus.
2. From Middle English maligne, from Old French maligne, from Latin malignus, from malus (“bad”) + genus (“sort, kind”). Compare benign.
Sample Sentences
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To be envied and shot at; to be maligned standing, and to be despised falling. [1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:]
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The obvious joy of England's players and supporters after that dramatic finale was another indicator that the Uefa Nations League, mocked and maligned at its inception, is capturing the public's imagination. [2018 November 18, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 1 Croatia”, in BBC Sport:]
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Yet, even as Democratic party leadership has decried this mass deportation plan and even as the bill maligns Democrats as victimizing Americans through its policy of “open borders,” 48 Democratic members of Congress voted for this GOP-backed bill. [2025 January 19, Heba Gowayed, “The Laken Riley Act exposes Democrats’ hypocrisy on immigration”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:]
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The people practice what mischiefs and villainies they will against private men, whom they malign by stealing their goods, or murdering them. [1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:]