sinister

sin·is·ter

adjective \ˈsi-nəs-tər, archaic sə-ˈnis-\

Definition of SINISTER

1

archaic : unfavorable, unlucky

2

archaic : fraudulent

3

: singularly evil or productive of evil

4

a : of, relating to, or situated to the left or on the left side of something; especially : being or relating to the side of a heraldic shield at the left of the person bearing it

b : of ill omen by reason of being on the left

5

: presaging ill fortune or trouble

6

: accompanied by or leading to disaster

— sin·is·ter·ly adverb

— sin·is·ter·ness noun

Examples of SINISTER

1. There was something sinister about him.
2. <the movie relies too much on sinister background music to create the suspense that the plot sorely lacks>

Origin of SINISTER

Middle English sinistre, from Anglo-French senestre on the left, from Latin sinistr-, sinister on the left side, unlucky, inauspicious

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SINISTER

Synonyms

baleful, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, ill, ill-boding, inauspicious, menacing, minatory, portentous, ominous, threatening

Antonyms

unthreatening

Related Words

black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dim, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched; discouraging, disheartening, hopeless, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious; ill-fated, ill-starred, star-crossed, troubled, unfortunate, unlucky; evil, malign, malignant

Near Antonyms

auspicious, benign, bright, encouraging, favorable, golden, heartening, hopeful, promising, propitious, prosperous

Synonym Discussion of SINISTER

sinister, baleful, malign mean seriously threatening evil or disaster. sinister suggests a general or vague feeling of fear or apprehension on the part of the observer <a sinister aura haunts the place>. baleful imputes perniciousness or destructiveness to something whether working openly or covertly <exerting a corrupt and baleful influence>. malign applies to what is inherently evil or harmful <the malign effects of racism>.