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If you need a fancy word to describe someone who’s up to no good, nefarious has got you (and them) covered. It’s also handy for characterizing the “no good” such a dastardly devil gets up to, as in “a nefarious business/plot/deed.” Nefarious is most often used for someone or something that is flagrantly wicked or corrupt—it’s more applicable to the mustache-twirling supervillain than the morally gray antihero. In other words, there’s no question that a nefarious scheme, or schemer, is not right. Etymologically, this makes perfect sense: nefarious can be traced back to the Latin noun nefas, meaning “crime,” which in turn combines ne- (“not”) and fas, meaning “right” or “divine law.” It is one of very few English words with this root, accompanied only by the likes of nefariousness and the thoroughly obscure nefast (“wicked”).
Examples of nefarious in a Sentence
Richard Wolin, New Republic, 4 June 2001
… I always give the same response: Just because Frank posed for pictures with every leading capo, underboss and cement contractor of the day doesn't mean that he joined them in their nefarious underworld activities. Oh, occasionally he rode along on a hit or two, but that was just one of those social obligations …
—Lewis Grossberger, Time, 21 Dec. 1998
Three-tenths of a mile uphill from our mailbox on the road, that bend is so nefarious that neophytes often skidded into a snowbank or wound up fender-deep in mud there.
—Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987
a nefarious scheme to cheat people out of their money
the chaste heroines and nefarious villains of old-time melodramas
Danielle Parker, CBS News, 20 Jan. 2026
The department’s demand sets a dangerous precedent and could expose millions of Americans to fraud, abuse and other nefarious activity.
—Barbara McQuade, Twin Cities, 15 Jan. 2026
But as of now, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News the belief is the outage is a technical issue and not the result of a cyberattack or some other nefarious act.
—Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2026
Naturally, Rue is captured by Laurie again, only to later become a bargaining chip in an exchange with another nefarious figure (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who apparently oversees some kind of escorting empire.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nefarious
Cite this Entry
“Nefarious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nefarious. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026.
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nefarious
adjective
