malignant nature
- noun
- /məˈlɪɡnənt ˈneɪtʃər/
- Specialized
:
naturaleza maligna
- Her malignant nature was evident in the way she plotted against her colleagues.
Examples
-
Everyone was aware of his malignant nature, as he often spread rumors to harm others.
-
The detective knew that the suspect's malignant nature made him dangerous.
-
The infiltrative behavior of this tumor clearly confirmed its malignant nature.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
∞
1.2
Being very bad and morally wrong, often causing harm to others
16
8.1
Very bad actions that hurt other people
8
6.5
A quality of doing very bad things and wanting to harm people
8
8.8
A feeling of wanting to harm other people
2
8.0
Very bad and morally wrong behavior
2
7.5
A wish to hurt or make other people suffer
1
8.4
A strong wish to harm others or make their lives worse
1
9.9
A strong wish to hurt or cause pain to other people
1
9.2
Very strong, hurtful words or actions toward someone
1
8.4
Very cruel and evil actions that harm people
1
9.6
Very evil behaviour that harms other people
1
8.7
Cruel or very mean behavior towards other people
A feeling of wanting to harm other people
A strong wish to hurt other people
Very strong, bitter speech or writing that tries to hurt someone
A look or feeling that seems threatening
Being very bad and cruel to other people
A habit of being angry and unpleasant to others
Great harm that can cause death or serious damage
Antonyms
How Malevolent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally derived from 'malignant' (harmful, aggressive) modifying 'nature' (a person's disposition), so the phrase directly conveys a harmful or malevolent character. Although 'malignant' often appears in medical contexts, its basic sense of being harmful extends transparently to descriptions of personality and would be inferable by a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Malignant nature paints a picture from medicine: malignant is used for a disease that grows and harms, and nature means someone's character. So saying someone has a 'malignant nature' means their character is deeply 'harmful' and can 'spread' damage to people around them.