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Sinister vs Evil - What's the difference?

sinister | evil |

Evil is a synonym of sinister.



In obsolete terms the difference between sinister and evil

is that sinister is wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest while evil is a malady or disease; especially in the phrase king's evil (scrofula).

As adjectives the difference between sinister and evil

is that sinister is inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate (as in bar sinister) while evil is intending to harm; malevolent.

As a noun evil is

moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.

sinister

English

Alternative forms

* sinistre (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Inauspicious]], ominous, unlucky, illegitimate (as in [[w:bar sinister, bar sinister ).
  • * Ben Jonson
  • All the several ills that visit earth, / Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.
  • *'>citation
  • Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
  • sinister influences
    the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
  • Of the left side.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Here on his sinister cheek.
  • * Shakespeare
  • My mother's blood / Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister / Bounds in my father's.
  • * 1911 , (Saki), ‘The Unrest-Cure’, The Chronicles of Clovis :
  • Before the train had stopped he had decorated his sinister shirt-cuff with the inscription, ‘J. P. Huddle, The Warren, Tilfield, near Slowborough.’
  • (heraldry) On the left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.
  • (obsolete) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts.
  • * South
  • He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • He read in their looks sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself.

    Antonyms

    * (of the right side): dexter * (heraldry): dexter

    Derived terms

    * bar sinister * baton sinister * bend sinister * sinister aspect * sinister base * sinister chief * sinistral

    Anagrams

    * ----

    evil

    English

    Adjective

  • Intending to harm; malevolent.
  • Do you think that companies that engage in animal testing are evil ?
  • Morally corrupt.
  • an evil plot to kill innocent people
  • * Shakespeare
  • Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, / When death's approach is seen so terrible.
  • Unpleasant. (rfex)
  • Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xxii. 19
  • He hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The owl shrieked at thy birth — an evil sign.
  • * Milton
  • Evil news rides post, while good news baits.
  • (obsolete) Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
  • an evil''' beast; an '''evil''' plant; an '''evil crop
  • * Bible, Matthew vii. 18
  • A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.
  • (computing, programming, slang) undesirable; harmful; bad practice
  • Global variables are evil ; storing processing context in object member variables allows those objects to be reused in a much more flexible way.

    Synonyms

    * nefarious * malicious * malevolent * See also

    Antonyms

    * good

    Derived terms

    * evil eye * evil laugh * evil laughter * evilly * evil-minded * Evil One * evil twin * evilness

    Noun

    (wikipedia evil)
  • Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
  • * Bible, (Ecclesiastes). ix. 3
  • The heart of the sons of men is full of evil .
  • * , chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm.
  • * (John Milton)
  • evils which our own misdeeds have wrought
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • The evil that men do lives after them.
  • (obsolete) A malady or disease; especially in the phrase king's evil (scrofula).
  • * (Shakespeare)
  • * Addison
  • He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil .

    Antonyms

    * good

    Derived terms

    * axis of evil * evildoer * king's evil * lesser evil * necessary evil * poll evil

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

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