sinister

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
“
So in English 'sinister' is used for "threatening or dangerous or evil sort of things"

View all »
Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. adjective Suggesting or threatening evil: a sinister smile.
  2. adjective Presaging trouble; ominous: sinister storm clouds.
  3. adjective Attended by or causing disaster or inauspicious circumstances.
3 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • (If that is not revealing enough, consider that the Latin word sinister also meant unlucky.)
  • As Jess tries to deal with these disturbing events, she struggles with the idea that either the spirit of her husband has returned or that something very sinister is at work. —  starked
  • Even more sinister is the emergence of a coordinated wave of harassment of the Church. —  HACER Weekly News Report
  • We blame the revamped format in conjunction with something far more sinister -- Kara's cleavage. —  American Midol: Daily News, Gossip and Commentary about "American Idol"
  • James Carlson would have you believe that this is somehow sinister, and that Salas is lying about, well, everything. —  THE UFO CHRONICLES
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 213 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

ominous ·  grim ·  unpleasant ·  weird ·  tragic ·  peculiar ·  gloomy
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 (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English sinistre, unfavorable, from Old French, from Latin sinister, on the left, unlucky.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English sinistre, from Old French sinistre, senestre, French sinistre =Spanish siniestro =Portuguese sinistro =Italian sinestro, sinistro, from Latin sinister, left, on the left hand, hence inauspicious or ill-omened; connections unknown. The opposite dexter has Teutonic and other connections (see dexter, deasil), but the Teutonic words for ‘left’ are different: Anglo-Saxon winster, wynster (winstr-) =Old Saxon winistar =OFries. winstere =Old High German winistar, winstar, Middle High German winster =Icelandic vinstri =Swedish venster, venstra =Danish venstre, left; Anglo-Saxon lyft, left, literally ‘weak’ (see left); Dutch linksch =Middle Low German link =Old High German *lenc, Middle High German lenc, line, German link, left; Old High German slinc, left.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈsɪnɪstər/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a month.

Recently looked up

Puffins · pander · viscera · proprietors · porno

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket