evil
Meanings
Plural: evils
Noun
- morally objectionable behavior
- that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; - Shakespeare
- "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"
- the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice
- "attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world"
- Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
- Something which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; something which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; harm; injury; mischief.
- A malady or disease; especially in combination, as in king's evil, colt evil.
Adjective
- morally bad or wrong
- "evil purposes"
- "an evil influence"
- "evil deeds"
Adjective Satellite
- having the nature of vice
- having or exerting a malignant influence
Adj
- Intending to harm; malevolent.
- Morally corrupt.
- Unpleasant, foul (of odor, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
- Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
- Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
- Undesirable; harmful; bad practice.
Adv
- wickedly, evilly, iniquitously
- injuriously, harmfully; in a damaging way.
- badly, poorly; in an insufficient way.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (compare Saterland Frisian eeuwel, Dutch euvel, Low German övel, German übel, Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”). See -le for the supposed suffix.
Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”).
Synonyms
abandoned, arrant, bad, bad apple, bad seed, baleful, baneful, base, dark, deleterious, depraved, despicable, detrimental, devilish, diabolical, evil, evilness, flagitious, harmful, ill-intentioned, ill-natured, immoral, immorality, incorrigible, iniquitous, iniquity, iniquous, injurious, knavish, malefic, maleficent, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, nefarious, niddering, nidering, niding, nithing, no-good, peccaminous, pernicious, reprehensible, reprobate, satanic, scathful, sinful, sinister, sordid, sullen, ungodly, unholy, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wickedness, wrong
Scrabble Score: 7
evil is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordevil is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
evil is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary