1
as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
a dark, baleful sky portending a tornado
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in adverse
causing or capable of causing harm
contends that the violent content of so much of popular entertainment is a baleful influence on our society
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death
a medicine that is beneficial in small doses but baleful in large
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of baleful
Dafoe’s presence and a distinctively baleful island ambience represent the chief selling points of this predominantly feel-bad exercise, premiering in Locarno’s Piazza Grande program.
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Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Aug. 2025
Its baleful guitar and hackneyed vocals make the average doubts shared by everyone who has ever been in love seem generic.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
The baleful stare that was such a part of Foreman’s first act as a boxer and public personality was missing, replaced by a look of mischief.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2025
Women are thought of as contaminants in the heya and arm candy outside it; the sponsors exert a baleful commercial pressure on the fighters.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baleful
Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Aug. 2025
Its baleful guitar and hackneyed vocals make the average doubts shared by everyone who has ever been in love seem generic.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
The baleful stare that was such a part of Foreman’s first act as a boxer and public personality was missing, replaced by a look of mischief.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2025
Women are thought of as contaminants in the heya and arm candy outside it; the sponsors exert a baleful commercial pressure on the fighters.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baleful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baleful
Adjective
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Though conventional in its concept (family moves into house, spirits possess family, paranormal investigators exorcize spirits), the movie's significance comes from its execution, which electrified audiences with ominous clapping hands and expert control of tension.—
Michael Lee Simpson,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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Unwisely agreeing to go for a spin, Tony finds they’re soon tailed by an ominous black SUV.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Working within restricted space, Lanthimos felt the need to go big with the filmmaking, both with supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Johnnie Burn’s sound design and composer Jerskin Fendrix’s music, which is by far the biggest score in the score-adverse director’s career.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
31 Oct. 2025
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Such issues include severe weather impacts, adverse road conditions and trash buildups that pose a threat to human and/or wildlife health.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Wuornos, who was found guilty of six murders and received six death sentences, was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002, after a decade on death row.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
31 Oct. 2025
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Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in October 2002, according to a New York Times obituary.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Their double life soon gets complicated when a rival boy band harboring a sinister secret begins stealing their fans.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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Candyman, the Candyman franchise (1992–1999; 2021) Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) finds out that adoration and horror don't mix when she is faced with the attachment of the sinister Candyman (Tony Todd) in the 1992 film classic.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The Quince style is dyed without harmful chemicals, giving the pants a one-of-a-kind look.—
Destinee Scott,
Travel + Leisure,
30 Oct. 2025
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To Trump, of course, gutting the Civil Rights Act is likely to be a point of pride, enabling the government to focus on more urgent matters, such as protecting white students from the purportedly harmful effects of diversity-equity-and-inclusion programs.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Weather events, like extreme heat and wildfires, are becoming more common due to climate change and are having a deadly impact on the lives of thousands.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
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What ostensibly started as a war against the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl has now ballooned into a far broader clash – spanning rare earths, American soybean exports, technology controls and China’s energy dealings with Russia.—
Jhasua Razo,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Other charges include multiple counts of burglary, assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
28 Oct. 2025
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In the movie, the pair are tasked with capturing a menacing beast who’s been eating the veggies from everyone’s gardens.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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What To Know In a video address, Probitkin said UnitedHealthcare has offered solutions that are one-sided and would be detrimental to patients and providers and accused big insurers like UnitedHealthcare of taking advantage of regional and safety net health care providers.—
Lauren Giella,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
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That’s not only unnecessary, but can be detrimental to the plants and the wider ecosystem.—
Erica Browne Grivas,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Baleful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baleful. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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