malignancy.

1. The capacity of abnormal cells to invade surrounding tissue and potentially spread.

2. A cancerous growth or condition.

3. Intensely harmful or malicious character.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• signs of malignancy
• suspected malignancy

On the page

The laboratory tested the sample for signs of malignancy.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: atmosphere, description. Commonness: moderately common.