malign vs uphold

malign

adj
  • Evil or malignant in disposition, nature, intent or influence. 

  • Malevolent. 

  • Malignant. 

verb
  • To make defamatory statements about; to slander or traduce. 

uphold

verb
  • To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling 

  • To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate. 

  • To support by approval or encouragement, to confirm (something which has been questioned) 

How often have the words malign and uphold occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )