1) to speak ill of， often falsely
malign extol， laud， benevolent， charitable
charitable ： malign
They maligned her academic record with false reports of her cheating.
Synonyms： defame， misrepresent， slander
(v.; adj.) to speak evil of; having an evil disposition toward others (opposite： benign)
In her statement to the judge she maligned her soon-to-be ex-husband.
She had such a malign personality that no one even tried to approach her， mostly out of fear.
