Synonyms of sinister

sinister

adjective

ˈsi-nə-stər 

as in ominous

being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come

the movie relies too much on sinister background music to create the suspense that the plot sorely lacks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ominous
• menacing
• threatening
• bleak
• dark
• darkening
• foreboding
• somber
• murky
• portentous
• lonely
• baleful
• minatory
• dire
• black
• unfortunate
• inauspicious
• direful
• desolate
• depressing
• depressive
• ill
• gray
• doomy
• ill-boding
• morbid
• cold
• unfavorable
• dim
• morose
• lugubrious
• gloomy
• saturnine
• sullen
• sepulchral
• lonesome
• cheerless
• elegiac
• funereal
• discouraging
• troubled
• dismal
• evil
• dreary
• disconsolate
• glum
• forlorn
• malignant
• unpropitious
• hopeless
• chill
• cloudy
• drear
• disheartening
• unpromising
• miserable
• malign
• comfortless
• plutonian
• tenebrous
• godforsaken
• wretched
• unlucky
• dreich
• Cimmerian
• sunless
• tenebrific
• ill-fated
• ill-starred
• star-crossed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• favorable
• benign
• bright
• promising
• golden
• hopeful
• encouraging
• unthreatening
• prosperous
• auspicious
• propitious
• heartening

Synonym Chooser

How is the word sinister different from other adjectives like it?

The words baleful and malign are common synonyms of sinister. While all three words 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

When is it sensible to use baleful instead of sinister?

The synonyms baleful and sinister are sometimes interchangeable, but baleful imputes perniciousness or destructiveness to something whether working openly or covertly.

exerting a corrupt and baleful influence

When would malign be a good substitute for sinister?

The words malign and sinister are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, malign applies to what is inherently evil or harmful.

the malign effects of racism

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sinister

One year after the events of the original, our returning quartet is recruited by the saucy, sinister Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) to spend a night at a haunted mansion, subtly dubbed Hell House, for a psychological, paranormal experiment. —Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025

Elisabeth Moss plays a former sitcom star who, after losing one too many jobs to younger actresses, comes under the sway of a powerful wellness guru (Kate Hudson) but begins to sense something sinister afoot. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025

Inspired by his studies of witchcraft and medieval witch hunts, Danish director Benjamin Christensen made this unclassifiable film that moves freely between straightforward accounts of witchcraft and alternately eerie and hilarious depictions of orgiastic Satan worship and other sinister deeds. —Keith Phipps, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025

The Overlook Hotel is, yes, sinister and even demonic, taunting Jack Torrance with bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to create a mounting sense of dread. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025

Phrases Containing sinister

• bar sinister