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.

Example Sentences

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 In our supreme age of intellectual property, true crime is as much a Hollywood brand as Marvel, Star Wars, and those mischievous Minions. —

Matthew Jacobs, Town & Country, 28 Apr. 2023 Linda Brovsky directs this full-scale, mainstage opera together with PSU’s full Voice program participants set in a mystical world of fantasy filled with dragons, mischievous fairies and charming forest animals. —

oregonlive, 20 Apr. 2023 Capturing all that joyous, mischievous energy was like putting lightning in a bottle. —

Jan Brett, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2023 On his right arm, Davidson has a tattoo of the Cheshire Cat, the famously mischievous character from Alice in Wonderland. —

Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 23 Jan. 2023 Many of these mischievous characters have become synonymous with the Disney brand and are considered some of the most recognizable personas in pop culture. —

James Barrett, Country Living, 23 Jan. 2023 The piece is delightfully meta-theatrical, a mischievous personal assault on the glittery illusion of showbiz success and a taunting exposé of Berlant’s own ambitions. —

Peter Marks, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2023 Drama teacher and director Danielle Dickstein said the Liberty Drama rendition of the play keeps to the traditional Grecian feel of the show in presenting Shakespeare’s magical, mischievous dreamland. —

Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 11 Nov. 2022 When the Maitlands' attempts to frighten the Deetzs away fail miserably, Barbara and Adam turn to the mysterious and mischievous Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to rid them of the living. —

Steven Thrash, EW.com, 28 Oct. 2022 See More

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.