evil
Americanadjective
-
morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked.
evil deeds;
an evil life.
- Antonyms:
- righteous
-
evil laws.
- Synonyms:
- destructive, pernicious
-
characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous.
to be fallen on evil days.
-
due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character.
an evil reputation.
-
marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc..
He is known for his evil disposition.
noun
-
that which is evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct.
to choose the lesser of two evils.
- Synonyms:
- baseness, corruption, unrighteousness, iniquity, depravity, wickedness
-
the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin.
-
the wicked or immoral part of someone or something.
The evil in his nature has destroyed the good.
-
harm; mischief; misfortune.
to wish one evil.
-
anything causing injury or harm.
Tobacco is considered by some to be an evil.
-
a harmful aspect, effect, or consequence.
the evils of alcohol.
-
a disease, as king's evil.
adverb
idioms
adjective
-
morally wrong or bad; wicked
an evil ruler
-
causing harm or injury; harmful
an evil plan
-
marked or accompanied by misfortune; unlucky
an evil fate
-
(of temper, disposition, etc) characterized by anger or spite
-
not in high esteem; infamous
an evil reputation
-
offensive or unpleasant
an evil smell
-
slang good; excellent
noun
-
the quality or an instance of being morally wrong; wickedness
the evils of war
-
(sometimes capital) a force or power that brings about wickedness or harm
evil is strong in the world
-
archaic an illness or disease, esp scrofula (the king's evil )
adverb
Usage
What are other ways to say evil?
A person or thing that is evil is morally wrong. How does evil differ from bad, wicked, and ill? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
evilnessnoun
-
nonevilnessnoun
-
noneviladjective
-
quasi-eviladjective
-
uneviladjective
-
evillyadverb
-
nonevillyadverb
-
quasi-evillyadverb
-
unevillyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of evil
First recorded before 900; Middle English evel, evil, Old English yfel; cognate with Gothic ubils, Old High German ubil, German übel, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch evel
Explanation
Evil is the opposite of good. We usually think of villains as evil — wrong, immoral and nasty on many levels — and heroes as good. This word is often reserved for our most terrible crimes and criminals: Adolf Hitler is usually the face of evil in history, while Voldemort is that face in recent literature. Evil can be less extreme, meaning simply anything that brings harm; we can talk about the evils of alcohol or the evils of power. When both major candidates for President seem lame, people often say they're choosing between the lesser of two evils. Not all evils are equally evil.
Vocabulary lists containing evil
Bush's Address on 9/11
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"Frankenstein" and "How Frankenstein Began"
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"The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Jasper Wiese had swept past Alex Coles with a run bristling with evil intent.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
We agree about the evil that demanded a constitutional response.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Minions, we learn in their latest adventure, were originally a seafaring folk who traveled the oceans in rowboats looking for the most evil and despicable master they could possibly find.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
In short: The Minions are an immortal yet childlike tribe of yellow critters continually seeking to serve an evil master.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
And then Jack took a good look at the animal and realized it wasn’t a horse at all: It was easily the most evil, horrible monster he’d ever faced.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Nolan uses this adjustment to build out the film’s emotional throughline: an extended rumination on the evils of war and the repugnance of men.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
A wary Tinseltown reluctantly coalesced around the Netflix bid, seeing it as the lesser of two evils, but Paramount's willingness to stump up ever greater sums eventually saw the streamer withdraw.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Also, I am afraid your columns do not sufficiently extol the value of work, which Voltaire rightly claimed protects us from the evils of boredom, vice, and poverty.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
“The real evils in war,” St. Augustine once wrote, are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
Abnegation was just as broken as the other factions, but its evils were less obvious, cloaked as they were in the guise of selflessness.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.