How to Use nefarious in a Sentence

nefarious

adjective
  • The most nefarious cults sometimes are the ones hidden in plain sight.
    Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 11 Oct. 2023
  • This time there are more nefarious thugs to run toward and away from.
    Yvette Benavides, ExpressNews.com, 1 Dec. 2020
  • The more nefarious of these supervillains hide in plain sight.
    WIRED, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Now, to be clear, this doesn't require a nefarious plot.
    Mark Dohnalek, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2021
  • But what if the next group of hucksters for whom Watkins serves as a mouthpiece has more nefarious goals?
    Michael Harriot, The Root, 6 Feb. 2018
  • In the long term, their intentions could be even more nefarious.
    Alphonso David, Fortune, 24 July 2023
  • The trailer hints the same substance has an alien origin with a nefarious purpose.
    Michael Kan, PCMAG, 1 Sep. 2022
  • And there’s just also a lot of ways for stuff to go missing in other, less nefarious ways.
    The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 25 Oct. 2023
  • And that is leaving them wide open to the criticism that this was somehow nefarious.
    NBC News, 14 May 2017
  • Like with any tool it could be used for good purposes or nefarious.
    Graham Kates, CBS News, 17 May 2017
  • Surely at least one of these nefarious characters knows where the bodies, and the bots, are buried?
    Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, 18 Feb. 2018
  • But some online claim the order is linked to something more nefarious.
    Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 28 Sep. 2022
  • But evil robots aside, the devices first have to face a more nefarious foe: lightning.
    Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 5 May 2018
  • Was the gas price surge a result of simple supply and demand, or were more nefarious forces at play?
    Sammy Rothstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2023
  • More nefarious plots, however, have long been a feature of the game.
    Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2020
  • This is a new but more nefarious take on an old desire for direct election of the president.
    Jack Fowler, National Review, 12 Mar. 2021
  • Then there are of course those interested in the gold mine of health data for more nefarious reasons like fraud.
    Erika Fry, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2018
  • And in one sequence, Cassie even lures a teenage girl into her car for what looks to be a nefarious purpose.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 15 Jan. 2021
  • As nefarious rumors spread like wildfire on the Ridge, tragedy strikes.
    Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 17 Apr. 2022
  • The hearings also served a more nefarious purpose, a judge would later rule.
    Joshua Kaplan, ProPublica, 11 Oct. 2022
  • As the city is attacked by nefarious forces, five other avatars band together to save it and its people.
    Angela Haupt, Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2020
  • But for many, the desire for a distinctive number is less nefarious.
    Mustafa Salim, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2018
  • Yeoh plays Scían, the last of a nomadic tribe of sword-elves on a quest to retrieve a sword stolen from her people by nefarious means.
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2021
  • There’s lots of gaslighting in life and business — much of it nefarious, some of it tactical.
    Brent Lang, Variety, 28 Jan. 2022
  • Both skills can be used for productive or for nefarious reasons.
    Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 28 June 2018
  • So overall, there is a more nuanced and at times nefarious side to the 'sustainable' leather debate.
    Brooke Roberts-Islam, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
  • People who are trying to turn that into some nefarious deed is craziness.
    Washington Post, 26 May 2017
  • As nefarious figures bear down on their bunker, Bloom makes one last request.
    Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 17 June 2021
  • So does the nefarious head of a crime syndicate, played by Paul Bettany.
    Bryan Bishop, The Verge, 15 May 2018
  • But, of course, some social media users see something more nefarious at play.
    Mckenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY, 11 Aug. 2021

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

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