baleful

adjective bale·ful \ -fəl \

Definition of baleful

1 :deadly or pernicious in influence

baleful effects

2 :foreboding or threatening evil

gave him a baleful look

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balefully

play \-fə-lē\ adverb

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balefulness

play \-fəl-nəs\ noun

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Examples of baleful in a Sentence

the baleful effects of water pollution
a dark, baleful sky portending a tornado

Recent Examples of baleful from the Web

Video projections of rippling Nile waters, dispossessed Ethiopians and baleful temple priests did little to relieve the antiseptic vacuity of the stage pictures.

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "In Salzburg, Muti's return to 'Aida' was worth the wait," 22 Aug. 2017
The baleful influence thus ever shed by Slavery on our national history and our public men has not yet spent its malignant forces.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "The 1850s Response to the Racism of 2017," 16 Aug. 2017
Mark Peterson’s photographs capture the baleful scene, illuminating the protesters’ faces and eyes, some of which are joyful in their hate.

— clio chang, New Republic, "Charlottesville’s Faces of Hate," 15 Aug. 2017
A baleful, goateed Robert De Niro, mid-scene in Heat, glares up from the poster board.

— zach baron, GQ, "Steven Soderbergh Is Back to Destroy Hollywood," 1 Aug. 2017
The appetite of Republicans for any bipartisan approach will obviously vary in intensity, depending on what the party can accomplish on its own, and on which potentially baleful developments wherein the GOP needs bipartisan cover.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Now What? Democrats Must Decide How to Exploit the Collapse of Trumpcare.," 19 July 2017
Emotions seem to visit you from everywhere: the passing clouds; the picture that triggers a memory; a baleful passage of song; or an exuberant melody.

— Philly.com, "Horoscopes: Friday, June 9, 2017," 9 June 2017
Both were ordered by the regional commander of imperial forces in Taiwan and were meant to ward off the baleful influences of nature in this once-remote area.

— Smithsonian, "Bitou and Longdong Bay Geological Park," 22 May 2017
Whatever the other factors, Mr. Comey has become a singularly baleful figure to people who worked on her campaign.

— mark landler, New York Times, "How Does Comey’s Fall Play in Hillaryland? No One’s Celebrating," 10 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'baleful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of baleful

before 12th century

baleful Synonyms

Synonyms

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

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.