malin
French, noun/ma.lɛ̃/
malin is spelled M-A-L-I-N (5 letters) and appears 14 times per million words in written French, the 5,118th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Malin is a French masculine noun meaning “shrewd person, smart person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Personne fine et rusée”.
What does malin mean in English?
adjective
- 1
obsoletenocive, pernicious
- 2
malignant
une tumeur maligne
- 3
datedmalicious, sadistic (which likes to do or say hurtful things for fun)
prendre un malin plaisir à faire quelque chose
- 4
informalsmart and quick-thinking, and often tricksterish; cunning, crafty
malin comme un singe
- 5
Quebecaggressive (of an animal); petulant (of a person)
noun
- 1
masculineshrewd person, smart person
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Porté à nuire, à faire du mal à autrui. 2. Mauvais, diabolique. 3. Qui présente de graves symptômes ; sérieux. 4. Qui se plaît à faire ou à dire des choses malicieuses, seulement pour s’amuser, se divertir.
noun: 1. Personne fine et rusée.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of malin
- maligne feminine
- maline feminine
- malins masculine plural
- malignes feminine plural
- malines feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce malin?
- /ma.lɛ̃/
- \ma.lɛ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to malin
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is malin in French?
malin appears 14 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).