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evil
[ ee-vuhl ]
adjective
evil deeds;
an evil life.
Synonyms: nefarious, vile, base, corrupt, vicious, depraved, iniquitous, sinful
Antonyms: righteous
evil laws.
Synonyms: destructive, pernicious
- characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous:
to be fallen on evil days.
- due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character:
an evil reputation.
- marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.:
He is known for his evil disposition.
noun
- that which is evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct:
to choose the lesser of two evils.
Synonyms: baseness, unrighteousness, corruption, iniquity, depravity, wickedness
- the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin.
- the wicked or immoral part of someone or something:
The evil in his nature has destroyed the good.
- harm; mischief; misfortune:
to wish one evil.
Synonyms: sorrow, suffering, misery, woe, calamity, disaster
- anything causing injury or harm:
Tobacco is considered by some to be an evil.
- a harmful aspect, effect, or consequence:
the evils of alcohol.
- a disease, as king's evil.
adverb
- in an evil manner; badly; ill:
It went evil with him.
evil
/ ˈiːvəl /
adjective
- morally wrong or bad; wicked
an evil ruler
- causing harm or injury; harmful
an evil plan
- marked or accompanied by misfortune; unlucky
an evil fate
- (of temper, disposition, etc) characterized by anger or spite
- not in high esteem; infamous
an evil reputation
- offensive or unpleasant
an evil smell
- slang.good; excellent
noun
- the quality or an instance of being morally wrong; wickedness
the evils of war
- sometimes capital a force or power that brings about wickedness or harm
evil is strong in the world
- archaic.an illness or disease, esp scrofula (the king's evil )
adverb
- now usually in combination in an evil manner; badly
evil-smelling
Derived Forms
- ˈevilly, adverb
- ˈevilness, noun
Other Words From
- evil·ly adverb
- evil·ness noun
- non·evil adjective
- non·evil·ly adverb
- non·evil·ness noun
- quasi-evil adjective
- quasi-evil·ly adverb
- un·evil adjective
- un·evil·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of evil1
Word History and Origins
Origin of evil1
Idioms and Phrases
- the evil one, the devil; Satan.
Example Sentences
For anaerobic life, which does not use oxygen, “phosphine is not so evil,” Sousa-Silva says.
Quasimodo has been brought up by an evil politician who’s confined him his entire life within the borders of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
With a series of toy models, the researchers calculated that the biased cosmic ray particles were ever-so-slightly more likely to knock an electron loose from a “live” helix than from an “evil” one, an event that theoretically causes mutations.
A world of women is a world of people, still, with full human capacity for good or evil.
The pursuit of a favorable credit score to secure commercial loans for our cars and homes has been viewed as a necessary evil.
But along with the cartoon funk is an all-too-real story of police brutality embodied by a horde of evil Pigs.
Or has the see and hear and speak-no-evil stance of the Republican House persuaded him that he is in the clear?
One wonders if his subsequent battles with the “Evil Empire” were animated by this belief.
Luke Skywalker is an evil robot who has fallen to the dark side of the force.
The skateboarder is as irredeemably evil as the others are noble.
He alludes to it as one of their evil customs and used by them to produce insensibility.
The Majesty on high has a colony and a people on earth, which otherwise is under the supremacy of the Evil One.
Good is set against evil, and life against death: so also is the sinner against a just man.
All felt strangely as if something evil had crept into their lives, and their excitement was great.
We dismounted, and speedily found that MacRae hadn't exaggerated the evil qualities of that descent.
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When To Use
What are other ways to say evil?
A person or thing that is evil is morally wrong. How does evil differ from bad, wicked, and ill? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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