evil

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Related to evilest: evilly, eviler

e·vil

 (ē′vəl)
adj. e·vil·er, e·vil·est
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
n.
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.
adv. Archaic
In an evil manner.

[Middle English, from Old English yfel; see wap- in Indo-European roots.]

e′vil·ly adv.
e′vil·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

evil

(ˈiːvəl)
adj
1. morally wrong or bad; wicked: an evil ruler.
2. causing harm or injury; harmful: an evil plan.
3. marked or accompanied by misfortune; unlucky: an evil fate.
4. (of temper, disposition, etc) characterized by anger or spite
5. not in high esteem; infamous: an evil reputation.
6. offensive or unpleasant: an evil smell.
7. slang good; excellent
n
8. the quality or an instance of being morally wrong; wickedness: the evils of war.
9. (sometimes capital) a force or power that brings about wickedness or harm: evil is strong in the world.
10. (Pathology) archaic an illness or disease, esp scrofula (the king's evil)
adv
(now usually in combination) in an evil manner; badly: evil-smelling.
[Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; compare Old Frisian evel, Old High German ubil evil, Old Irish adbal excessive]
ˈevilly adv
ˈevilness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

e•vil

(ˈi vəl)

adj.
1. morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life.
2. harmful; injurious: evil laws.
3. characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous: to fall on evil days.
4. due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character: an evil reputation.
5. marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.: an evil disposition.
n.
6. something evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct: to choose the lesser of two evils.
7. the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin.
8. the wicked or immoral part of someone or something.
9. harm; mischief; misfortune: to wish one evil.
10. anything causing injury or harm.
11. a disease, as king's evil.
adv.
12. in an evil manner; badly; ill: It went evil with him.
Idioms:
the evil one, the devil; Satan.
[before 900; Old English yfel; c. Old Saxon, Old High German ubil, Gothic ubils]
e′vil•ly, adv.
e′vil•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evil

See also crime; devil; sin.

a form of witchcraft involving melting a wax image of the intended victim or, in voodoo, sticking it with pins.
the belief that the world is essentially bad or evil.
the branch of theology that studies sin and evil.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evil

 

See Also: ACTION, CRUELTY

  1. All sin is a kind of lying —St. Augustine
  2. At first the evil impulse is as fragile as the thread of a spider, but eventually it becomes as tough as cart ropes —Babylonian Talmud
  3. Bad as a rotten potato —Charlotte Brontë
  4. Corruption is like a ball of snow, when once set a roll, it must increase —Charles Caleb Colton
  5. The Devil … like influenza he walks abroad —W. H. Auden
  6. Evil actions like crushed rotten eggs, stink in the nostrils of all —Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
  7. Evil … a quality some people are born with, like a harelip —Ross Macdonald
  8. Evil as dynamiting trout —Robert Traver
  9. Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree —Ethiopian proverb
  10. Evil, like parental punishment, is not intended for itself —Josepiz Albo
  11. Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers on the road. Both appear great at a distance, but when we approach them we find they are far less insurmountable than we had conceived —Charles Caleb Colton
  12. Evils, like poisons, have their uses, and there are diseases which no other remedy can reach —Thomas Paine
  13. He’s like a fox, grey before he’s good —Thomas Fuller
  14. Immorality in a house is like a worm in a plant —Babylonian Talmud
  15. Immoral, like plying an alcoholic with liquor —Anon
  16. Obscene as cancer —Wilfred Owens
  17. Our sins, like our shadows when day is in its glory, scarce appear; toward evening, how great and monstrous they are! —Sir John Suckling
  18. (He is a man of splendid abilities, but utterly corrupt. He shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight —John Randolph
  19. Sin is a sort of bog; the farther you go in the more swampy it gets —Maxim Gorky
  20. Sins black as night —Robert Lowell
  21. So awful [a crime] it was like an atrocity picture or one of Foxe’s lives of the martyrs —Jonathan Valin
  22. (You’re) soft and slimy … like an octopus. Like a quagmire —Jean-Paul Sartre
  23. Vice is like a skunk that smells awfully rank, when stirred up by the pole of misfortune —Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
  24. Vice, like virtue, grows in small steps —Jean Racine
  25. Vice repeated is like the wandering wind, Blows dust in others’ eyes, to spread itself —William Shakespeare
  26. Wrong as stealing from the poor box —Anon
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.evil - morally objectionable behaviorevil - morally objectionable behavior  
evildoing, transgression - the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle; "the boy was punished for the transgressions of his father"
devilry, deviltry - wicked and cruel behavior
foul play - unfair or dishonest behavior (especially involving violence)
irreverence, violation - a disrespectful act
sexual immorality - the evil ascribed to sexual acts that violate social conventions; "sexual immorality is the major reason for last year's record number of abortions"
2.evil - that which causes harm or destruction or misfortuneevil - that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"- Shakespeare
bad, badness - that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good"
Four Horsemen - (New Testament) the four evils that will come at the end of the world: conquest rides a white horse; war a red horse; famine a black horse; plague a pale horse
3.evil - the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice; "attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world"
malevolency, malice, malevolence - the quality of threatening evil
malignance, malignancy, malignity - quality of being disposed to evil; intense ill will
balefulness, maleficence, mischief - the quality or nature of being harmful or evil
immorality - the quality of not being in accord with standards of right or good conduct; "the immorality of basing the defense of the West on the threat of mutual assured destruction"
worst - the greatest damage or wickedness of which one is capable; "the invaders did their worst"; "so pure of heart that his worst is another man's best"
nefariousness, vileness, ugliness, wickedness - the quality of being wicked
reprehensibility - being reprehensible; worthy of and deserving reprehension or reproof
villainousness, villainy - the quality of evil by virtue of villainous behavior
perverseness, perversity - deliberately deviating from what is good; "there will always be a few people who, through macho perversity, gain satisfaction from bullying and terrorism"
wrongdoing, error - departure from what is ethically acceptable
vice, frailty - moral weakness
good, goodness - moral excellence or admirableness; "there is much good to be found in people"
Adj.1.evil - morally bad or wrongevil - morally bad or wrong; "evil purposes"; "an evil influence"; "evil deeds"
bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice"
immoral - deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong
offensive - unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses; "offensive odors"
wrong - contrary to conscience or morality or law; "it is wrong for the rich to take advantage of the poor"; "cheating is wrong"; "it is wrong to lie"
unrighteous - not righteous; "an unrighteous man"; "an unrighteous law"
wicked - morally bad in principle or practice
good - morally admirable
2.evil - having the nature of viceevil - having the nature of vice    
wicked - morally bad in principle or practice
3.evil - having or exerting a malignant influenceevil - having or exerting a malignant influence; "malevolent stars"; "a malefic force"
maleficent - harmful or evil in intent or effect
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

evil

noun
2. harm, suffering, pain, hurt, misery, sorrow, woe those who see television as the root of all evil
3. act of cruelty, crime, ill, horror, outrage, cruelty, brutality, misfortune, mischief, affliction, monstrosity, abomination, barbarity, villainy Racism is one of the greatest evils in the world.
adjective
3. demonic, satanic, diabolical, hellish, devilish, infernal, fiendish This place is said to be haunted by an evil spirit.
4. offensive, nasty, foul, unpleasant, vile, noxious, disagreeable, putrid, pestilential, mephitic There was an evil stench in the room.
5. unfortunate, unlucky, unfavourable, ruinous, calamitous, inauspicious people of honour who happen to have fallen upon evil times
Quotations
"So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,"
"Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost;"
"Evil be thou my Good" [John Milton Paradise Lost]
"Evil be to him who evil thinks (Honi soit qui mal y pense)" Motto of the Order of the Garter
"What we call evil is simply ignorance bumping its head in the dark" [Henry Ford]
"The evil that men do lives after them" [William Shakespeare Julius Caesar]
"Evil alone has oil for every wheel" [Edna St. Vincent Millay Mine the Harvest]
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" Bible: St. Matthew
Proverbs
"Choose the lesser of two evils"
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

evil

adjective
1. Morally objectionable:
3. Bringing, predicting, or characterized by misfortune:
4. Characterized by intense ill will or spite:
Slang: bitchy.
noun
1. That which is morally bad or objectionable:
3. Whatever is destructive or harmful:
4. A cause of suffering or harm:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
سوء، شَرشَر، سوءشِرّير، سَيِّءشَرِير
zlý
ondondskabondskabsfuld
paha
zao
e-î illt; mein, bölmein, bölvondur, illur
悪い
사악한
blogisblogybėnedorainedorumasnusidėjėlis
ļaunsļaunumsnelaimesliktssliktums
hudobenzlo
ond
ชั่วร้าย
ahlâksızçok kötüfelâketfenalıkkötücül
ác

evil

[ˈiːvl]
A. ADJ
1. (= wicked) [person, deed, thought] → malvado; [reputation] → de malvado; [spirit] → maligno, maléfico; [influence] → maléfico, funesto; [place, plan] → diabólico; [hour, times] → funesto; [effect] → nocivo
to put the evil eye on sb, give sb the evil eyeechar el mal de ojo a algn
an evil spellun maleficio
evil tongues may say thatlas malas lenguas dirán que ...
he had his evil way with herse aprovechó de ella, se la llevó al huerto (hum)
the evil weed (= tobacco) → el vicio (hum)
2. (= nasty) [smell, taste] → horrible
to put off the evil dayposponer el día funesto
to have an evil tempertener un genio endiablado
B. N
1. (= wickedness) → mal m
the conflict between good and evilel conflicto entre el bien y el mal
there wasn't a trace of evil in herno había ni un rastro del maldad en ella
the forces of evillas fuerzas del mal
to speak evil of sbhablar mal de algn
2. (= harmful thing) → mal m
the lesser of two evilsel menor de dos males
a necessary evilun mal necesario
social evilsmales mpl sociales
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

evil

[ˈiːvəl]
adj (= wicked) [person] → malveillant(e); [thing] → mauvais(e)
to put off the evil hour, to put off the evil day → retarder l'échéance fatidique
n
(= bad things) → mal m
(= bad aspect, feature)
one of the evils of modern society → l'un des fléaux de la société moderne
the evils of alcohol → les dangers de l'alcool
a necessary evil → un mal nécessaire
the lesser evil → le moindre mal
the lesser of two evils → le moindre malevil-smelling [ˈiːvəlsmɛlɪŋ] adjnauséabond(e)evil spirit nesprit m malfaisant
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

evil

n
Böse(s) nt; good and evil in Victorian Englanddas Gute und das Böse im viktorianischen England; the conflict between good and evilder Kampf zwischen Gut und Böse; there was never any trace of evil in heran ihr war nie etwas Böses; the evil in the universedas Übel in der Welt; to wish somebody no eviljdm nichts Böses wünschen; to speak evil of somebodyschlecht von jdm reden
(= bad thing or activity)Übel nt; a necessary evilein notwendiges Übel; the lesser/greater of two evilsdas kleinere/größere Übel; social evilssoziale Missstände pl; a sermon on the evils of drinkeine Predigt über das Laster des Trinkens
adj
(= bad, wicked) person, tongueböse; example, influence, reputationschlecht; evil deedÜbeltat f; the country’s most evil terroristsdie schlimmsten Terroristen des Landes; with evil intentmit or aus böser Absicht; the evil weed (hum: = tobacco) → das Kraut (inf); (= smoking)das Rauchen; to put off the evil day/momentden schrecklichen Tag/Augenblick hinauszögern
(= devilish) spirit, spell, powerböse; placeverhext
(= unpleasant) smell, tasteübel

evil

:
evildoer
nÜbeltäter(in) m(f), → Bösewicht m (dated)
evil eye
n the evilder böse Blick; to give somebody the eviljdn mit dem bösen Blick ansehen

evil

:
evil-minded
adjbösartig
evil-smelling
adjübel riechend
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

evil

[ˈiːvl]
1. nmale m
the lesser of two evils → il minore tra due mali
2. adj (person, deed) → malvagio/a, cattivo/a; (reputation, influence) → pessimo/a; (spirit, spell, influence) → malvagio/a; (unhappy, hour, times) → infausto/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

evil

(ˈiːvl) adjective
very bad; wicked; sinful. evil intentions; an evil man; He looks evil; evil deeds; an evil tongue.
noun
1. wrong-doing, harm or wickedness. He tries to ignore all the evil in the world; Do not speak evil of anyone.
2. anything evil, eg crime, misfortune etc. London in the eighteenth century was a place of crime, filth, poverty and other evils.
evil-
evil-minded; evil-smelling.
ˈevilly adverb
ˈevilness noun
ˌevil-ˈdoer noun
a wicked or sinful person.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

evil

شَرِير zlý ond böse μοχθηρός malvado paha malveillant zao malvagio 悪い 사악한 boosaardig ond zły mau злой ond ชั่วร้าย kötücül ác 邪恶的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

evil

n. maldad;
a. malo-a, maligno-a.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
References in classic literature ?
--For there is a salt which uniteth good with evil; and even the evilest is worthy, as spicing and as final over-foaming:--
This devil does the evilest of all deeds in a modern democracy: he disguises himself as the ultimate defender of the constitution and the constitutional rights of Spanish citizens.
15, 1949, the echoes of which still reverberate as Philippine history's evilest quote ever said by an elected official.
"I think the education system has grabbed hold of young ones and just twisted their heads inside out, and they believe Hitler was the evilest guy who ever lived.
For smaller daredevils in your crew (as young as four)-as well as the evilest of Knievels-brave the elements as part of a treetop adventure including zip lines, rappels, a flying kayak, and the "Tarzan swing."