evil

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Nobody wants to admit that in defeating one evil, another evil was allowed free reign.

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Definitions (40)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. adjective Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
  2. adjective Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
  3. adjective Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (21)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Sa, have mercy upon me, and visit your justice upon treacherous Lord Jathan Carrock, for his evil has been the cause of all my woe! —  Legends II
  • One cause of this evil is the way that MPs are selected. —  Brits at their Best
  • This evil is a part and parcel of the arena dealing with trade and commerce.
  • I'm on the edge of my ergonomic computer chair waiting to read what pure, unadulterated evil teh homoSEXuals have brought upon the world with the Iowa ruling, and why this evil is a mighty good reason to send the American Family Association some more conservative "Christian" buck-a-roos. —  Pam's House Blend - Front Page
  • The only sign of his evil was his red eyes, full of unholy intent and destruction. —  Popular in the last 8 hours
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

wrong ·  wicked ·  own ·  ill ·  bad ·  secret ·  cold

Used in the same contextWord Family

evil:   evils
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. I. a. Early modern English also evill, evel, evyl; from Middle English evel, ivel, uvel, yvel, from Anglo-Saxon yfel = Old Saxon ubhil = OFries. evel = Dutch euvel = Low German öwel = Old High German ubil, Middle High German ubel, übel, German übel, adjective, ill, = Swedish illa, adverb, = Danish ild, adjective, obsolete, ilde, adverb, ill (later English ill), = Gothic (Moesogothic) ubils, evil. II. n. from Middle English evel, ivel, uvel, yvel, from Anglo-Saxon yfel = Old Saxon ubil = OFries. evel = Dutch euvel = Low German öwel = Old High German ubil, Middle High German ubel, übel, German übel = Gothic (Moesogothic) ubil, n., evil; neuter of the adjective Cf. ill, which is a contracted form (of Scandinavian origin) of evil. In the Middle English period the place of evil as an adjective in common use began to be taken by bad, which is now the more familiar word, and has a wider range, evil being restricted usually to things morally bad. The noun evil is applicable to anything bad, whether morally or physically. The antithesis of both evil and bad is good.
  2. from Middle English evill, evell, evele, uvele, from Anglo-Saxon yfele, yfle = Old Saxon ubhilo, etc., adverb; from the adjective
  3. Middle English evilen, evylen; from the adjective
  4. English dial.
 

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/ˈivl/
by American Heritage
by Parker Smith
by Mary Mark Ockerbloom

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