mischievous

adjective

mis·chie·vous ˈmis-chə-vəs

ˈmish-;

nonstandard

mis-ˈchē-vē-əs

mish-

Synonyms of mischievous next

: harmful, injurious

mischievous gossip

: able or tending to cause annoyance, trouble, or minor injury

: irresponsibly playful

mischievous behavior

mischievously adverb

mischievousness noun

Mischievous vs. Mischievious: Usage Guide

A pronunciation \mis-ˈchē-vē-əs\ and a consequent spelling mischievious are of long standing: evidence for the spelling goes back to the 16th century. Our pronunciation files contain modern attestations ranging from dialect speakers to Herbert Hoover. But both the pronunciation and the spelling are still considered nonstandard.

Examples of mischievous in a Sentence

In passing the test of killing itself if infected, cancerous or genetically mischievous, a cell by definition dies. —

Matt Ridley, Genome, 1999

… Pedro Martinez, could be found in the dugout, usually wearing sneakers instead of spikes, his tongue flying about as fiercely as one of his mischievous fastballs. —

Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 11 Oct. 1999

Setsu grew, too, from a mischievous, laughing little girl into a gay, willful, pretty girl. —

Pearl S. Buck, The Big Wave, 1947

the children had been so mischievous that we had to pay the babysitter extra and then clean up the mess punished for their mischievous tricks on the neighbors

Recent Examples on the Web Her self-righteous smirk, withering glare and wide, mischievous grin captured the emotional extremes of adolescence to an extent that words could never quite express. —

Judy Berman, TIME, 14 July 2024 Known as the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology (Hermes in Greek mythology), Mercury was depicted as quick-witted, mischievous and remarkably clever. —

Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 1 July 2024 Although riffing on the archetype of the bad girl is pop tradition, the new insouciance has a distinctly mischievous bent. —

Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 21 June 2024 The eight-armed mollusks are notoriously curious and border on mischievous. —

Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 4 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for mischievous

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mischievous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.