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# benign

«benign» in Mova's school dictionary: **kind, gentle and not harmful** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (benign, more benign)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Benign means kind, gentle and not harmful. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#m1)

2) (medicine) A benign lump or tumour is not cancer and does not spread. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

Formal word used in descriptions of people and in medicine: «The doctor said the lump was benign» is good news. In stories, a benign smile is a kind one.

### examples

- The old man gave a benign smile. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x1)
- The doctor said the lump was benign, so we were relieved. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x2)
- The weather was benign all week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x3)
- Badger looked at Mole with a benign expression. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x4)
- Most spiders in Britain are benign to people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x5)
- Her presence seemed to have a benign influence on those there. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/#x6)

### note

Pronounced «bi-NINE» (the g is silent). Opposite: malignant (harmful; medicine: cancer that spreads).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «benign» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/benign/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.