Improper vs Nefarious - What's the difference?
improper | nefarious | Related terms |
unsuitable to needs or circumstances; inappropriate; inapt
Not in keeping with conventional mores or good manners; indecent or immodest
Not according to facts; inaccurate or erroneous
Not consistent with established facts; incorrect
Not properly named; See, for example, improper fraction
(obsolete) Not specific or appropriate to individuals; general; common.
* J. Fletcher
(obsolete) To appropriate; to limit.
* Jewel
(obsolete) To behave improperly
(Webster 1913)
Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.
* 1828 , , The Red Rover , ch. 2:
* 1877 , , The Life of Cicero , ch. 9:
* 1921 , , The Indiscretions of Archie , ch. 26:
* 2009 Oct. 14, Monica Davey, "
Improper is a related term of nefarious.
As adjectives the difference between improper and nefarious
is that improper is unsuitable to needs or circumstances; inappropriate; inapt while nefarious is sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.As a verb improper
is (obsolete|transitive) to appropriate; to limit.improper
English
Alternative forms
* impropre (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Not to be adorned with any art but such improper ones as nature is said to bestow, as singing and poetry.
Derived terms
* improper divisor * improper face * improper fit * improper fraction * improper integral * improper motion * improper node * improper orthogonal transformation * improper rotation * improper use * improper workmanshipVerb
(en verb)- He would in like manner improper and inclose the sunbeams to comfort the rich and not the poor.
nefarious
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- "If the vessel be no fair-trading slaver, nor a common cruiser of his Majesty, it is as tangible as the best man's reasoning, that she may be neither more nor less than the ship of that nefarious pirate the Red Rover."
- Mommsen . . . declares that Catiline in particular was "one of the most nefarious' men in that ' nefarious age. His villanies belong to the criminal records, not to history."
- The fact that the room was still in darkness made it obvious that something nefarious was afoot. Plainly there was dirty work in preparation at the cross-roads.
Fact Checker Finds Falsehoods in Remarks," New York Times (retrieved 12 May 2014):
- “I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.”
