evil

¹evil

adj
\ˈē-vəl, British often & US also ˈē-(ˌ)vil\

evil·er or evil·lerevil·est or evil·lest

Definition of EVIL

1

a : morally reprehensible : sinful, wicked <an evil impulse> b : arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct <a person of evil reputation>

2

a archaic : inferior b : causing discomfort or repulsion : offensive <an evil odor> c : disagreeable <woke late and in an evil temper>

3

a : causing harm : pernicious <the evil institution of slavery> b : marked by misfortune : unlucky

— evil adverb, archaic

— evil·ly \-(l)ē\ adverb

— evil·ness \-nəs\ noun

Examples of EVIL

1. She drank an evil potion.
2. The city has fallen on evil days.
3. It was an evil omen.

Origin of EVIL

Middle English, from Old English yfel; akin to Old High German ubil evil

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to EVIL

Synonyms: adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, harmful, hurtful, ill, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked

Antonyms: anodyne, benign, harmless, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, safe

Related Words: hostile, inimical, unfriendly; contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous; insidious, menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening; hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound; nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome; destructive, fatal, killer, lethal, malignant, ruinous

Near Antonyms: advantageous, beneficial, useful; favorable, good, propitious; curative, healthful, healthy, helpful, palliative, remedial, salubrious, salutary, wholesome; secure, sound; benignant; noncorrosive, nondestructive, nonfatal, noninfectious, nonlethal, nonpoisonous, nonpolluting, nontoxic, nonvenomous

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Rhymes with EVIL

shrieval, weevil