malignly
- adverb
- /məˈlaɪnli/
- The Pelagian God was malignly indifferent; the orthodox God was fatally interventionist.
Examples
-
Freud means to explain how the past is recovered in a malignly distorted form; a childhood memory becomes a trauma, which is not directly associated with that memory.
Academic text (1995) -
As Sola Sierras said, the country was a cemetery, and bodies disappeared ever more malignly.
Fiction book (2000) -
Goodwin asserted that Hill's esteem for Calvin was misplaced, and malignly so, since Calvin was generously disposed and minded by universal.
Academic text (2018) -
He spoke of his rival malignly, wishing only for their downfall.
-
The villain in the story acted malignly, seeking revenge without remorse.
-
She malignly plotted against her colleague, hoping to take credit for his work.
Synonyms
In a way that wants to hurt someone or cause trouble
In a way that seems likely to hurt or scare someone
In an evil and cruel way that harms other people
In a cruel way to hurt or frighten others
In an angry and hurtful way
In a very evil way
In a way that shows strong dislike and anger
To break someone's trust by betraying them
With a look or voice that shows you want to harm someone
In a cruel way that shows unkind feelings and hurts others
In a way that shows a wish to hurt others
In a very evil way
In a harmful way that causes damage and spreads quickly
In an unfriendly way that shows anger or dislike
To speak or act in a very hurtful and angry way
In a way that causes harm slowly without being noticed
In a very dishonest or illegal way
In a way that shows anger and strong disagreement
In a way that shows a strong wish to punish someone for something they did
In a way that seems evil or threatening
In a cruel way that shows bad intentions
In a rude, insulting way that shows clear disrespect
In a mean way that tries to hurt someone
Doing something to hurt someone who hurt you
In a way that uses others to get money or power
In a dishonest way that betrays trust
Antonyms
How Maliciously
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Malignly comes from the root mal- meaning 'bad', the same root you see in malicious and malfunction; think of 'mal-' as a mark for harm. A helpful image is someone quietly saying nasty things to hurt another person—so to act malignly is to behave or speak in a hurtful, 'bad' way.