Malign
Malign 既可以作动词也可以作形容词：
- 动词: 指公开地说一个人的坏话，企图破坏其声誉，即诽谤、诋毁（如 to malign a political opponent）。
- 形容词: 描述某物具有恶意的、有害的或（在医学上）恶性的（如 a malign influence）。
- “She felt she had been unfairly maligned by the local press.” (她觉得她受到了当地媒体不公平的诽谤。)
- “The dictator’s malign influence spread throughout the entire region.” (独裁者的有害影响蔓延到了整个地区。)
- “The scan revealed a malign growth that needed immediate surgery.” (扫描显示有一个恶性肿瘤，需要立即手术。)
- mal-: 词根源自拉丁语 malus，意为“坏的”。
- -ign: 来源于拉丁语 gignere（产生/出生），类似于 gen。 字面意思大概是“产生坏的东西”。
- 前缀: mal- (bad)。
- 同根词: malignant (恶性的), malignity (恶意)。
在医学语境中，malign 是 malignant 的缩写或近义词，特指癌细胞。在法律和社交语境中，maligning 他人被视为一种严重的道德缺失。
- 相关形容词: malignant (恶性的)
- 反义形容词: benign (良性的)
- 名词形式: malignity
记住前缀 mal- (坏)。作为一个动词，malign 就是“说别人的坏话”。作为一个形容词，它就是“坏的/恶性的”。
The jealous actor tried to malign his co-star by telling the director that he was lazy. He hoped his malign lies would help him get the main role. But his plan failed when the director saw the co-star working hard every night. In the end, it was the jealous actor who lost his job for his malign behavior.