Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of a kind and gentle disposition.
- adj. Showing gentleness and mildness. See Synonyms at kind1.
- adj. Tending to exert a beneficial influence; favorable: a policy with benign consequences for the economy. See Synonyms at favorable.
- adj. Having little or no detrimental effect; harmless: a chemical additive that is environmentally benign.
- adj. Medicine Of no danger to health; not recurrent or progressive; not malignant: a benign tumor.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of a kind disposition; gracious; kind; benignant; favorable.
- Proceeding from or expressive of gentleness, kindness, or benignity.
- Favorable; propitious: as, benign planets.
- Genial; mild; salubrious: applied to weather, etc.
- Mild; not severe; not violent; not malignant: used especially in medicine: as, a benign medicine; a benign disease. Synonyms Gracious, etc. See
benignant .
Wiktionary
- adj. Kind; gentle; mild.
- adj. medicine Not posing any serious threat to health; not particularly aggressive or recurrent.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of a kind or gentle disposition; gracious; generous; favorable; benignant.
- adj. Exhibiting or manifesting kindness, gentleness, favor, etc.; mild; kindly; salutary; wholesome.
- adj. Of a mild type or character.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. kindness of disposition or manner
- adj. pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
- adj. not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive (especially of a tumor)
Etymologies
- Via French from Latin benignus ("kind, good"), from bonus ("good") + genus ("origin, kind"). Compare malign. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English benigne, from Old French, from Latin benignus; see genə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“ The term benign is used when describing tumors or growths that do not threaten the health of an individual.”
“As a result, he poured all of that exposition into "I.O.U.," which he called the "benign tumor" that came from "Capital.”
The Wall Street Journal: Author Lanchester, in New Novel, Focuses Again on Financial Crisis
“He entered the club, his expression benign, his chin tilted slightly upward.”
“Cause movement contended it was fought not over slavery - which they characterized as a benign institution - but over states' rights.”
“Huckabee's comment was horrible and saying it was "benign" is even worse.”
“Certain benign and malignant gynecologic and gonadal tumors.”
“Development of certain benign growths, such aslipomas (tumors of fatty tissue), hamartomatous polyps of the intestine, and uterine fibroids”
“The figures suggest inflationary pressures remain benign in the currency area and should allow the ECB to keep its interest rates at record lows for some time.”
The Wall Street Journal: Euro-Zone Producer Prices Edge Higher
“At best this episode results in benign distraction at the Port, but nonetheless a distraction, at worst it's a sign of incompetency and a dysfunctional organizational culture.”
Port Director Apologizes for Distributing NRA Video « PubliCola
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘benign’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 330 more...
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7thGradeWords
horde, doggedly, retina, frail, jovial, insidious, injudicious, brazen, tentative, hortle, adaver, benign and 91 more...
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gre
municipal, whit, dissembler, berate, liberally, embellish, dissimilitude, histrionics, flamboyance, bombastic, bovine, calumny and 142 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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Quacksalvers et al. Nostrum
Bring forth the cathartic illumination on malignant,maniacal,medical,menage a trios and more egotists stymie
culpability, piousfraud, capacitous, rhabdomyolysis, scapula, idiosyncrasy, quiescent, malignant, nefarious, sociological, sociopath, pathogen and 202 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 567 more...
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GRE Study guide
Going through the Magoosh website, words I pulled from the verbal section. 2012.
magnanimous, correlate, anglicized, simulacrum, tantamount, obsequiousness, subterfuge, vehement, vociferous, benign, concomitant, veracity and 83 more...
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general search words
words when I found them in the articles
benign, pantomime, deregulation, regressive, morose, staid, mercurial, temperament, ludicrous, fallacy, discord, afloat and 17 more...
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Let's Talk About Family!
idiosyncrasy, acerbic, sardonic, mordant, aesthetics, prolific, discerning, eclectic, iconoclast, heterodox, disheveled, deplorable and 36 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1908 more...
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Reading Vocab
ulterior, warrant, syllogism, precious, impiety, maroon, aigrette, batiste, topsy-turvy ago, midnight crush, cantankerous, slovenly and 180 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for benign.
super-logos And I love the word, benignity. But I do not like the word, benighted. Aug 8, 2008