evil

¹evil

adjective \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

Rhymes with EVIL

shrieval, weevil

²evil

noun

Definition of EVIL

1

a : the fact of suffering, misfortune, and wrongdoing

b : a cosmic evil force

2

: something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity

Examples of EVIL

1. the battle of good versus evil
2. <our free will allows us to choose between good and evil>

First Known Use of EVIL

before 12th century

Related to EVIL

Synonyms

bad, evildoing, ill, immorality, iniquity, sin, villainy, wrong

Antonyms

good, morality, right, virtue

Related Words

atrociousness, atrocity, badness, balefulness, darkness, depravedness, devilishness, diabolism, enormity, evilness, heinousness, iniquitousness, satanism, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness; devilry (or deviltry), fiendishness; cancer, canker, decay, rot, squalor; corruption, debauchery, degeneracy, depravity, indecency, malefaction, perversion, pervertedness, scurrility, scurrilousness; abomination, anathema, taboo (also tabu)

Near Antonyms

decency, goodness, honesty, integrity, probity, rectitude, uprightness; goodness, righteousness, virtuousness