From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmalignma‧lign1 /məˈlaɪn/ verb [transitive] UNTRUEto say unpleasant things about someone that are untrue SYN slander She had seen herself repeatedly maligned in the newspapers. a much maligned politicianGrammar Malign is usually passive.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
malign• But Turabi says his country is being maligned.• Public relations is much maligned about its influence on the media.• Schools have been maligned by politicians and newspapers.• They had gotten along well together until his parents came into the vicinity and began to malign his wife.• He had allowed himself to be maligned in the press to protect the political people.• I wish to malign no one.• But I could be maligning the lad.much maligned• A very scholarly and erudite work, widely acclaimed at the time but since much maligned.• Public relations is much maligned about its influence on the media.• What's more, Tony Boyle, much maligned after his two abortive outings against the Dubs, scored four points.• The Radio 1 playlist is much maligned, but it is as honest and fair as any system.• Whether the result is really much better than our much maligned regional courses is hard to say.malignmalign2 adjective formal HARM/BE BAD FORharmful OPP benign a malign influenceExamples from the Corpus
malign• Those on the rung just below are often rendered as ridiculous rather than evil, as inept or boorish rather than malign.• That was the malign beauty of it all, which I spent seven grudging years admiring.• A malign child of the Cold War who had once been the uncrowned underworld king of Berlin.• The malign effects suffered by inbred animals show how evolution can exploit hidden diversity.• They presume that changing values are declining values and seek some malign influence to blame.• Clinton's deviousness evoked a fury among Republicans, and contributed to the malign partisanship of the capital.• malign spiritsOrigin malign1 (1400-1500) Old French malignier “to do evil, deceive”, from Late Latin malignari, from Latin malignus; → MALIGN2 malign2 (1400-1500) Old French maligne, from Latin malignus, from male “badly” + gigni “to be born” 