The Only Use
benign
in
The Scarlet Letter
(Auto-generated)
- Interpreting Hester Prynne's deportment as an appeal of this nature, society was inclined to show its former victim a more benign countenance than she cared to be favoured with, or, perchance, than she deserved.†
p. 150.1
Definitions:
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(1)
(benign) kindly, mild, or harmless
(In medicine, a tumor that is not life-threatening, is called benign.) - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)