MALIGNITY Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

Q: 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

malignity

noun

mə-ˈlig-nə-tē

Definition of malignity next

as in malice

the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm one of the characters in the novel is a cruel oppressor of such malignity that he came to be one of the most famous villains in all of literature

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 Modernist malignity has long been a topic of discussion in architectural circles. —

Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022 Where Moyn is driven by a photonegative of American exceptionalism—a sense that American power is a singular force of malignity in the world—Arkin is concerned that this perpetual-war machine is at odds with America’s strategic interests. —

Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021 Decades of miserable history had to pass before the comedy buried within their malignity was revealed, like a vein of ore uncovered by a natural catastrophe. —

Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for malignity

Noun

After personally speaking with students, their remorse revealed that ignorance, rather than malice, was the culprit.

— Mark Treyger, New York Daily News, 27 Jan. 2025
Following the heinous crime, there is an outpouring of malice for the victim, and of admiration for the perpetrator.

— Onkar Ghate, Orange County Register, 22 Jan. 2025