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GRE vocabulary

malign

verbHigh-frequency wordMore M words

to speak about in a harmful and untrue way

Word origin: From Latin malignus, of evil nature.

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In a sentence

Malign in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing malign in a sentence.

Critics maligned the author for views she had never actually held.

Rival publishers maligned the new journal as a vanity venture, though its peer-review standards were in fact rigorous.

Antonyms
praiseextolcommend

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Verbal · Sentence Equivalence

The treaty's terms were deliberately blank, allowing each side to interpret the key clauses in whatever way best suited its own interests.

Select the two answers that give the sentence the same meaning. 0 of 2 selected.

Usage & nuance

Using “malign” well

To malign someone is to speak harmfully and untruthfully about them, implying defamation rather than fair criticism. As an adjective it can also mean evil in influence, as in a malign tumor.

Common questions

Questions about “malign”

Malign (verb) means to speak about in a harmful and untrue way
Here is malign used in an example sentence: "Critics maligned the author for views she had never actually held." Another example: "Rival publishers maligned the new journal as a vanity venture, though its peer-review standards were in fact rigorous."
Common synonyms for malign include defame, slander, disparage, vilify.
Antonyms of malign include praise, extol, commend.
As a verb, malign clusters with defame, slander, disparage, and vilify. Its antonyms praise, extol, and commend signal the opposite-sense answer.
Yes. Malign is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

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