MALIGNANT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does malignant mean? 

• MALIGNANT (adjective)
  The adjective MALIGNANT has 1 sense:

1. dangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor)

  Familiarity information: MALIGNANT used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MALIGNANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dangerous to health; characterized by progressive and uncontrolled growth (especially of a tumor)

Similar:

cancerous (relating to or affected with cancer)

Domain category:

pathology (the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases)

Antonym:

benign (not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive (especially of a tumor))

Derivation:

malignance; malignancy ((medicine) a malignant state; progressive and resistant to treatment and tending to cause death)

 Context examples 

The malignant cells are round with abundant cytoplasm and vesicular nuclei.

(Medullary breast carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The findings have implications for tracking how malignant cells spread through the body or how infections might be treated.

(Bacteria change behavior to tackle tiny obstacle course, National Science Foundation)

Leisure-time physical activity was associated with a greater risk of malignant melanoma, particularly in people from regions with strong sunlight.

(Physical activity associated with lower risk of many cancers, NIH)

Malignant epithelial tumor arising in the accessory urethral glands.

(Accessory Urethral Gland Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Chemo, a go-to therapy for cancer, works to kill malignant cells by stopping them reproducing.

(Molecule in Immune System Able to Trigger 'Suicide' of Cancerous Tumors, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The malignant creature was seated in his own parlour, with a policeman upon each side of him.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A malignant brain tumor that begins in the lower part of the brain and that can spread to the spine or to other parts of the body.

(Medulloblastoma, NCI Dictionary)

A malignant glandular epithelial neoplasm consisting of secretory cells forming acinar patterns.

(Acinar Cell Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign or malignant glandular epithelial neoplasm consisting of secretory cells forming acinar patterns.

(Acinar Cell Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologic variant of acinar adenocarcinoma of the prostate gland characterized by the presence of signet ring malignant cells.

(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Signet Ring Variant, NCI Thesaurus)