Definition of evil in English:

evil

adjective ˈiːv(ə)lˈiːvɪlˈivəl

1Profoundly immoral and wicked.
his evil deeds
no man is so evil as to be beyond redemption
Example sentencesExamples
- A girl can't even get the satisfaction of contemplating evil deeds in a properly villainous position these days!
- If it had not been for that day, she'd still be living with her mother, not knowing anything about her evil grandfather and his wicked schemes.
- Not to show overwhelming strength is immoral, since it will induce evildoers to perform more evil deeds because they'll think they can get away with it.
- His atrocities and evil deeds invited the curse.
- Since then, I have heard Destiny call us evil, abnormal and immoral.
- She will then be able to turn around and say - everyone knows of this person, everyone has heard of this person, and his evil deeds that I allege he's done.
- We read about someone who does evil deeds and is of wrong view, and who has an unhappy rebirth.
- The Queen's Park sex attacker has already told friends or family about his evil deed, according to the man leading the hunt to catch him.
- A man is either good, bad or evil, moral or immoral.
- She too is evil, dark and wicked and she too will pay the price if she does die.
- ‘These people have to repent their evil deeds and show they have repented,’ he said.
- The act of killing thousands of innocent people is profoundly evil and we rightly abhor it.
Synonyms
wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonourable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, dark, black-hearted
monstrous, shocking, despicable, atrocious, heinous, odious, contemptible, horrible, execrable
informal low-down, stinking, dirty, shady, warped, bent, crooked
archaic dastardly, black
rare egregious, flagitious, peccable
1. 1.1 (of a force or spirit) embodying or associated with the forces of the devil.
  we were driven out of the house by an evil spirit
  Example sentencesExamples
  Does that influence your view on what these folk are seeing - whether evil spirits, or unexplained forces, or loved ones from beyond?
  Tradition associates dances with the casting out of evil spirits.
  It is here that beef eating begins to become associated with pollution and evil spirits.
  Had we stuck with the supernatural explanation, we would never have advanced beyond blood letting or exorcisms to get the evil spirits out.
  The malevolent exercise of supposed supernatural powers, especially by women, attributed to a connection with the devil or evil spirits.
  The devils and evil spirits of the next day were perhaps more psychosomatic and drawn from the excesses of the night before than derived from a Celtic past.
  The trees that stood around us seemed to grope around, like evil spirits searching for souls.
  It can also take the form of an exorcism, where the treatment is meant to drive out an evil spirit or devil from the victim.
  The captain of the bad team is the devil, assisted by demons, evil spirits and politicians.
  Exhausted from the heat, the great serpent and all the evil spirits and little serpents fell asleep.
  It also says that a warlock so powerful will be born and he alone can stop this evil force from walking the Earth.
  Also bonfires were lit to driveaway evil forces.
  It includes dances representing good and evil forces in the form of maidens and devils.
  This tale goes back hundreds of years to a time when cats were associated with witchcraft and evil spirits.
  He precedes the dancers and it is his duty to crack the whip to drive away any evil spirits or forces of evil.
  When I think of the devil, I don't picture an evil force out to destroy us all by any means necessary.
  They used powerful spells on the relic, that would prove to be most potent and would repel evil forces from using it.
  He therefore becomes demonised, an evil spirit or Devil.
  The Devil's Stone, it read, contained the many evil spirits and souls of the past.
  It is very different from the image of a binding and restraining of evil forces, although later traditions imply that this was the work of Day One, and so part of the forbidden mystery.
2. 1.2 Harmful or tending to harm.
  the evil effects of high taxes
  Example sentencesExamples
  One little girl reminded me that the guitar, too, is hard to use to really evil effect if it is at least in tune.
  An evil act, a destructive act, is a choice made by a human being.
  Taxes with or without representation are evil, ever fostering harm and destruction.
  It is a lesson which some of our less enlightened citizens would do well to learn before they put pen to paper decrying the wholesale evil effects of immigration.
  In his homily he urged the young people to remain loyal to the pledge to abstain from alcohol which they were taking, and warned them of the evil effect on society from the use of drugs.
  Many of the participants painted wine glass in flames and a serpent coming out of a liquor bottle, throwing light on the evil effects of drinking.
  The ceremony was prompted by an astrologer who told the girl's father that the union would transfer the evil effects of the planet Saturn from the girl to the dog.
  Logically, if one follows the common mores of the west, the intent to ‘do harm’ would be evil.
  People throng it to ward off the evil effects of this planet.
  I see arising a great movement among women to safeguard themselves and their children from the evil effects of too liberal a capitalism.
  Having good intentions, not harming others, avoiding evil actions and making the heart and mind pure in thought were among the truths spoken by the Buddha.
  Britain's colonial policy, which resulted in the annexation of NZ in 1840, was also shaped by a desire to limit the evil effects of the felonry on Maori.
  He was so certain as to the evil effects that he might not go out, fearing some street accident.
  That's what good laws do, father: restrain the evil effects of misuse of free will.
  Protecting civilians from the evil effects of battle has long been a fundamental goal of the law of armed conflict.
  If you are not prepared to consider the evil effects of the war alongside the putative advantages, then you will be unlikely to reach a reliable evaluation of the evidence.
  Synonyms
  harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, deleterious, inimical, bad, mischievous, pernicious, malignant, malign, baleful, venomous, noxious, poisonous
  corrupting, subversive
  calamitous, disastrous, destructive, ruinous
  literary malefic, maleficent
  rare prejudicious
  unlucky, unfortunate, unfavourable, adverse, unhappy, disastrous, catastrophic, ruinous, calamitous, unpropitious, inauspicious, dire, woeful
3. 1.3 (of a smell or sight) extremely unpleasant.
  a bathroom with an ineradicably evil smell
  Example sentencesExamples
  It also seemed to have been taken for granted that it was the source of the evil smell that lingered in the room.
  The whole place had a damp and evil smell, and as I moved my torch a rat scuttled across the floor.
  One of these, when I knew it many years ago, was black, splattered with pigeon droppings, subjected to dense fogs, evil smells, filth everywhere.
  Speight's putsch has the evil smell of a South Pacific Kristallnacht.
  Borne along by the flow of traffic, she passed through the forum arch into a stew of noises, colors, and evil smells.
  Synonyms
  unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty, horrible, foul, filthy, vile
  inclement, wet, rainy, stormy, squally, blustery, cold, freezing, foggy

noun ˈiːv(ə)lˈiːvɪlˈivəl

mass noun

1Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.
his struggle against the forces of evil
Example sentencesExamples
- They are still recovering from their battle with the forces of evil who sought to destroy all who live in the great house.
- But a culture that is consciously bent on rejecting moral norms is on a collision course with profound evil.
- All of which would suggest that a film which casts spiders as the malevolent force of evil would be a natural fit for a when nature attacks horror movie.
- These characters may be incarnates of some supernatural evil, but it's not likely.
- I believe that my dharma is to prove that the Force for Good takes precedence over the force for evil in mankind.
- It is time for goodness and Godliness to triumph once more over wickedness and evil.
- You have won a place in this world, but remember, the last to hold it was filled with wickedness and evil.
- Righting wrongs and fighting evil, corruption, wickedness and stupidity is just part time work.
- And we hold you up in pride as our symbol in the fight of Good against the forces of darkness and evil.
- Watch them battle the forces of evil in the guise of a smiling clown.
- Heroic deeds reinforce the bonds of the human condition in ways that resist the forces of terror and evil.
- And then, just when victory would be at its closest, the forces of evil would surround him.
- The forces of good and evil in the world have strengths and weaknesses such that neither side can vanquish the other.
- Military force defeats evil in comic books and at the movies.
- You follow the trail all the way back to, yep, supernatural evil, a hidden dark lord, whatever.
- The war that waged between the forces of good and evil would be filled with bloody battles and in accordance to the winner, the balance would shift.
- He then murders his girlfriend and chops off a certain body part of his own, all while imagining the cause of this to some sort of supernatural evil.
- In short, I tend to think the modern empire is fueled by greed and power and fear and other vestigial ape-politics, rather than some dark forces of ritualistic evil.
- Too bad the actor does not believe in liberating people from the forces of evil in the real world.
- What forces of evil could so cloud the minds of the designers that they would put the volume controls down a level from the main menu?
Synonyms
wickedness, bad, badness, wrong, wrongdoing, sin, sinfulness, ungodliness, immorality, vice, iniquity, turpitude, degeneracy, vileness, baseness, perversion, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, atrocity, malevolence, devilishness
informal shadiness, crookedness
rare peccability, peccancy
1. 1.1count noun A manifestation of profound immorality and wickedness, especially in people's actions.
  the evil that took place last Thursday
  Example sentencesExamples
  An evil of unimaginable proportions has been unleashed.
  So for days I ate turkey, feebly rationalizing that I wouldn't add the evil of waste to the evil of the murder of the poor birds, who by then were beyond pain.
  There are indications that romantic aberrations are becoming more and more an evil of underprivileged people.
  The evil of these acts is almost too much to comprehend.
  The evil of entrusting our liberty to politicians is compounded by a lack of independent safeguards or transparency.
  And he spoke candidly of the whole Catholic Church in this country being ‘tainted with the evil of child abuse’.
  Many people have made the point that the Holocaust is not simply a terrible historical event, but a reminder for everyone of the evil of which humans are capable.
  He regarded vampirism as a curse, and the ultimate evil was to force it on someone unwilling.
  It protects me from the evil of surveillance - by officials, by the unwanted gaze of strangers, by anyone I chose to remain anonymous from.
  But the whole business of slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, and a most horrible iniquity to traffic with slaves and souls of men; and an evil.
  The Alliance will continue to use our powers for the good of promoting these two, rather than for the evil of working against those we don't want to win.
  Next will be that perennial complaint by predictable hand wringers that children's toy advertising is a modern evil of biblical proportions.
  All of the priests I interviewed saw witchcraft as an intrinsic evil of the post-colonial economy.
  This resulted in the evil of the conquest of Eastern Europe by Red fascism, replacing Black fascism, whilst freeing Western Europe from the Black fascists.
  I implore the May Day protesters to worry about real problems, rather than just labelling everything as an evil of capitalism.
  Synonyms
  abomination, atrocity, obscenity, outrage, enormity, crime, monstrosity, barbarity, barbarism
2. 1.2count noun Something which is harmful or undesirable.
  the various social evils of our modern world
  Example sentencesExamples
  Where in the world has the African culture regarded the practice of homosexuality as a social evil?
  The protection of young people from smoking and other social evils are our responsibility.
  To cope with such social evils, people spend money on more expensive products.
  In a bold but lucid way he lays bare the social evils and rampant corruption in those times.
  It is a minor skin problem yet it is considered a social evil.
  These evils are extraordinarily difficult to prove in particular cases.
  This is the latest episode in the vilification of videogames, which overnight has become a social evil up there with guns, pornography, and smoking.
  The course focuses on systemic evils and the social contexts that produce them.
  The blow by blow attack on social evils was delineated through other forms of folk art too.
  She just doesn't get it - the depiction of family dysfunction is not a social evil.
  Professionals who excel in their field but become edentulous when they come up against a social evil.
  Alms-giving should be eradicated as a social evil like untouchability.
  He urged the people to cooperate the district administration in its fight against social evils.
  I owe the media thanks for acting like a mirror in exposing those social evils such as corruption.
  We are responsible to God if by our carelessness or neglect we lead our children into a life or crime or other social evils.
  It was a forced response, albeit a generous one, to the social evils that the hurricane had exposed.
  It was for the political reason that Nazism had ceased to be a social evil, especially when viewed alongside the new menace of communism.
  He had rendered an unrelenting battle against the social evils which was taken up by his disciples later.
  Hopefully the Biblical passage above will serve to act as a timely reminder of the evils and perils of dancing.
  Issues such as suicides of farmers, pollution and social evils are often the subjects.
  Synonyms
  harm, pain, hurt, misery, sorrow, suffering, trauma, trouble, disaster, detriment, destruction, loss, misfortune, catastrophe, calamity, affliction, woe, ruin, hardship
  ills

Phrases

the evil eye

A gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause harm.
he gave me the evil eye as I walked past
Example sentencesExamples
- He could tell she didn't believe him, and began to give him the evil eye.
- I met one who said he was a white magic man, that he undid the evil eye and black magic spells, got rid of mischief from co-wives and restored potency to men.
- Many Tamils also worship village deities, and believe in such popular superstitions as spirits and the evil eye.
- It is believed that the evil eye can be counteracted by many different protective and curative measures.
- About half of Bulgarians believe in telepathy, the evil eye and black magic, and that dreams can be prophetic.
- Before then, it might have been witchcraft or the evil eye.
- Nor does he believe in the evil eye, bad omen, and that kind of stuff.
- Male children are believed to be particularly vulnerable to the evil eye.
- The misconceptions include black magic, witchcraft, evil eye and being possessed by a spirit.
- The superstitious belief in the evil eye is ancient and widespread, though certainly not universal.

the Evil One

archaic The Devil.
Example sentencesExamples
- Or if you fall for the siren song of the Evil One, you're going to be drained dry and cast into the pit of flames in due course.
- But he puts it from him as a temptation of the Evil One, makes public confession on the pillory which had been the scene of Hester's shame, and dies in her arms.
- Each of my paintings is like a book, exposing the tricks of the Evil One, revealing hidden truths through metaphoric symbols, hidden passages and written text.
- Remember that the Evil One is ruling over a community of noble savages, peace-loving people whose only problem is that they are oppressed by the Evil One.

give someone (the) evils

informal Glare at someone.
a bus driver gave me evils when I paid with a note
Example sentencesExamples
- She gave me the evils when I looked at her!
- And my cat is giving me the evils
- I had my little sister Marianne in the car with me, so I said, "Stare at him as we drive past; give him the evils!"
- I gave them the evils so they knew I was angry.
- Her little sister (adorable little six year old who keeps falling over and making me laugh) gave me the evils because I was taking her big sis away for the evening.
- I gave them the evils until they got the message.
- I still gave her the evils though, even when she boarded the train before ours.
- I sat there and gave her the evils for a few minutes but she never looked up.
- Great pics too although they are definitely giving you the evils in that first one.
- His mum gave me the evils from her bedroom window.

fall on evil days

Suffer misfortune or a reversal.

put off the evil day (or hour)

Postpone something unpleasant for as long as possible.
it is too easy for children to put off the evil day when they have to get down to work
Example sentencesExamples
- This is one of the earlier outdoor festivals on the calendar and, unfortunately, the dedicated committee, who have organised six highly successful Féiles so far, did not have the luxury of putting off the evil day.
- The easiest route for some seems to be to plan well ahead for another career, in other words, not to face the blank appointments diary at all but put off the evil day for some more years.
- The only thing managers can do is to try to put off the evil day by hook or crook.
- The government is putting off the evil day of spending money at direct cost to the individuals who live along the coast.
- Your Honour, in relation to the consequences, can I just say that if the case had any strength, the application would not be opposed but it does have a look of putting off the evil day.
- The motive for trying to prolong a detailed assessment, namely putting off the evil day when payment has to be made, will be considerably reduced when he who has to pay can only put off the evil day in respect of a considerably reduced sum.
- Even taking this line may only put off the evil day.
- But I am convinced that the right course adjustment now is better than dithering or putting off the evil day: sooner or later, even greater disruption, and perhaps worse, would follow.
- Experience in other jurisdictions shows that those on trial are only too willing to put off the evil day by taking ‘interlocutory’ points to appeal.
- In practice, greater accuracy can only put off the evil day by an insignificant amount.
Synonyms
put to one side, lay aside, pigeonhole, stay, stand over, keep in abeyance, suspend, mothball

speak evil of

Slander.
it is a sin to speak evil of the king
Example sentencesExamples
- But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My Name, that can lightly speak evil of Me.
- Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
- Everyone was in the lounge, still speaking evil of the mysterious guest.
- Second, Paul suggests that believers in this revitalization movement should act toward others with courtesy, concern, and kindness to avoid quarreling and speaking evil of them.
- They never spoke evil of each other, and acted civil towards one another, which was an advantage for everyone.
- This last example was a particularly sensitive one for Luther, who took the time to explain to his congregation why he could speak evil of the pope and not break this commandment - he did it by virtue of his office as teacher of the church!
- And no one who does anything good, anything wondrous, or a deed of power will be able to soon afterward to speak evil of me.
- Those who have the least will have the best chance to flourish in an environment free from daily assault by employers and occupying forces, neighbors and those who speak evil of them.
- The world could speak evil of Him and it would not shake your confidence in Him, in the least!
- I, too, shamelessly spoke evil of people behind their backs.
Synonyms
disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, revile, berate, belittle, abuse, insult, slight, attack, speak ill of, speak evil of, pour scorn on, cast aspersions on, criticize, censure, condemn, decry, denounce, pillory, lambaste

Derivatives

evilly

adverb ˈiːv(ə)liˈivəlli

An evilly disposed person might say that Attila the Hun had a similar lack of discretion.
Example sentencesExamples
- But it descended into your stomach through your nose and mouth and sat there evilly.
- That vote may have been evilly garnered by preying on people's baser tendencies, but again, a vote's a vote.
- Tomorrow I will wear high heels and stare evilly at any tourists who stray like slow demented sheep into my path, as I stomp my way in to work.
- It comes from evil masterminds stroking their chin and smirking evilly.

evilness

noun ˈiːv(ə)lnəsˈivəlnəs

But somehow, his evilness seems to find me anyway.
Example sentencesExamples
- But instead of haranguing about corporate evilness, compete with them in the marketplace and be specific and even more energetic about bringing to light their polluting, wasting behaviors.
- The Child Catcher is a wonderful part because I can get rid of all the venom and evilness which has accumulated during the day.
- But this shows you the evilness of the perpetrators of this cowardly attack.
- The evil doers will be judged according to their work of evilness!

Origin

Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch euvel and German Übel.

Like good and bad, evil goes back to the earliest times, and many have reflected on its nature over the centuries. ‘The evil that men do lives after them’, wrote Shakespeare in Julius Caesar. The proverb See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil is often represented by the image of ‘three wise monkeys’, who are pictured covering their eyes, ears, and mouth with their hands. The carving of the original monkeys is found on a shrine at Nikko in Japan. The idea of a necessary evil goes back to Greek. The first necessary evil was marriage, and the first example in English, from 1547, refers to a woman. In his State of the Union address of February 2002, US President George W. Bush said of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea that they constituted ‘an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of this world’. The phrase is now used to encapsulate the Bush administration's stance in foreign relations, much as the evil empire (inspired by the Star Wars films) summed up Ronald Reagan's view of the Soviet Union.

Rhymes

coeval, Khedival, medieval, primeval, retrieval, shrieval, upheaval

Definition of evil in US English:

evil

adjectiveˈēvəlˈivəl

1Profoundly immoral and wicked.
his evil deeds
no man is so evil as to be beyond redemption
Example sentencesExamples
- The Queen's Park sex attacker has already told friends or family about his evil deed, according to the man leading the hunt to catch him.
- She too is evil, dark and wicked and she too will pay the price if she does die.
- A man is either good, bad or evil, moral or immoral.
- His atrocities and evil deeds invited the curse.
- She will then be able to turn around and say - everyone knows of this person, everyone has heard of this person, and his evil deeds that I allege he's done.
- ‘These people have to repent their evil deeds and show they have repented,’ he said.
- Not to show overwhelming strength is immoral, since it will induce evildoers to perform more evil deeds because they'll think they can get away with it.
- We read about someone who does evil deeds and is of wrong view, and who has an unhappy rebirth.
- A girl can't even get the satisfaction of contemplating evil deeds in a properly villainous position these days!
- The act of killing thousands of innocent people is profoundly evil and we rightly abhor it.
- Since then, I have heard Destiny call us evil, abnormal and immoral.
- If it had not been for that day, she'd still be living with her mother, not knowing anything about her evil grandfather and his wicked schemes.
Synonyms
wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonourable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, dark, black-hearted
1. 1.1 (of a force or spirit) embodying or associated with the forces of the devil.
  we were driven out of the house by an evil spirit
  Example sentencesExamples
  Does that influence your view on what these folk are seeing - whether evil spirits, or unexplained forces, or loved ones from beyond?
  The trees that stood around us seemed to grope around, like evil spirits searching for souls.
  He therefore becomes demonised, an evil spirit or Devil.
  The Devil's Stone, it read, contained the many evil spirits and souls of the past.
  It also says that a warlock so powerful will be born and he alone can stop this evil force from walking the Earth.
  This tale goes back hundreds of years to a time when cats were associated with witchcraft and evil spirits.
  Tradition associates dances with the casting out of evil spirits.
  It is here that beef eating begins to become associated with pollution and evil spirits.
  It is very different from the image of a binding and restraining of evil forces, although later traditions imply that this was the work of Day One, and so part of the forbidden mystery.
  It can also take the form of an exorcism, where the treatment is meant to drive out an evil spirit or devil from the victim.
  It includes dances representing good and evil forces in the form of maidens and devils.
  The captain of the bad team is the devil, assisted by demons, evil spirits and politicians.
  They used powerful spells on the relic, that would prove to be most potent and would repel evil forces from using it.
  He precedes the dancers and it is his duty to crack the whip to drive away any evil spirits or forces of evil.
  When I think of the devil, I don't picture an evil force out to destroy us all by any means necessary.
  The devils and evil spirits of the next day were perhaps more psychosomatic and drawn from the excesses of the night before than derived from a Celtic past.
  Exhausted from the heat, the great serpent and all the evil spirits and little serpents fell asleep.
  Had we stuck with the supernatural explanation, we would never have advanced beyond blood letting or exorcisms to get the evil spirits out.
  The malevolent exercise of supposed supernatural powers, especially by women, attributed to a connection with the devil or evil spirits.
  Also bonfires were lit to driveaway evil forces.
2. 1.2 Harmful or tending to harm.
  stories about the evil effects of television on children make good copy
  Example sentencesExamples
  An evil act, a destructive act, is a choice made by a human being.
  In his homily he urged the young people to remain loyal to the pledge to abstain from alcohol which they were taking, and warned them of the evil effect on society from the use of drugs.
  It is a lesson which some of our less enlightened citizens would do well to learn before they put pen to paper decrying the wholesale evil effects of immigration.
  Many of the participants painted wine glass in flames and a serpent coming out of a liquor bottle, throwing light on the evil effects of drinking.
  The ceremony was prompted by an astrologer who told the girl's father that the union would transfer the evil effects of the planet Saturn from the girl to the dog.
  People throng it to ward off the evil effects of this planet.
  He was so certain as to the evil effects that he might not go out, fearing some street accident.
  Taxes with or without representation are evil, ever fostering harm and destruction.
  I see arising a great movement among women to safeguard themselves and their children from the evil effects of too liberal a capitalism.
  Logically, if one follows the common mores of the west, the intent to ‘do harm’ would be evil.
  That's what good laws do, father: restrain the evil effects of misuse of free will.
  Britain's colonial policy, which resulted in the annexation of NZ in 1840, was also shaped by a desire to limit the evil effects of the felonry on Maori.
  If you are not prepared to consider the evil effects of the war alongside the putative advantages, then you will be unlikely to reach a reliable evaluation of the evidence.
  One little girl reminded me that the guitar, too, is hard to use to really evil effect if it is at least in tune.
  Protecting civilians from the evil effects of battle has long been a fundamental goal of the law of armed conflict.
  Having good intentions, not harming others, avoiding evil actions and making the heart and mind pure in thought were among the truths spoken by the Buddha.
  Synonyms
  unlucky, unfortunate, unfavourable, adverse, unhappy, disastrous, catastrophic, ruinous, calamitous, unpropitious, inauspicious, dire, woeful
  harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, deleterious, inimical, bad, mischievous, pernicious, malignant, malign, baleful, venomous, noxious, poisonous
3. 1.3 (of a smell or sight) extremely unpleasant.
  a bathroom with an ineradicably evil smell
  Example sentencesExamples
  One of these, when I knew it many years ago, was black, splattered with pigeon droppings, subjected to dense fogs, evil smells, filth everywhere.
  Speight's putsch has the evil smell of a South Pacific Kristallnacht.
  Borne along by the flow of traffic, she passed through the forum arch into a stew of noises, colors, and evil smells.
  The whole place had a damp and evil smell, and as I moved my torch a rat scuttled across the floor.
  It also seemed to have been taken for granted that it was the source of the evil smell that lingered in the room.
  Synonyms
  unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty, horrible, foul, filthy, vile

nounˈēvəlˈivəl

1Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.
the world is stalked by relentless evil
good and evil in eternal opposition
Example sentencesExamples
- What forces of evil could so cloud the minds of the designers that they would put the volume controls down a level from the main menu?
- You follow the trail all the way back to, yep, supernatural evil, a hidden dark lord, whatever.
- Too bad the actor does not believe in liberating people from the forces of evil in the real world.
- In short, I tend to think the modern empire is fueled by greed and power and fear and other vestigial ape-politics, rather than some dark forces of ritualistic evil.
- Military force defeats evil in comic books and at the movies.
- They are still recovering from their battle with the forces of evil who sought to destroy all who live in the great house.
- The war that waged between the forces of good and evil would be filled with bloody battles and in accordance to the winner, the balance would shift.
- The forces of good and evil in the world have strengths and weaknesses such that neither side can vanquish the other.
- These characters may be incarnates of some supernatural evil, but it's not likely.
- I believe that my dharma is to prove that the Force for Good takes precedence over the force for evil in mankind.
- Watch them battle the forces of evil in the guise of a smiling clown.
- And we hold you up in pride as our symbol in the fight of Good against the forces of darkness and evil.
- Heroic deeds reinforce the bonds of the human condition in ways that resist the forces of terror and evil.
- It is time for goodness and Godliness to triumph once more over wickedness and evil.
- You have won a place in this world, but remember, the last to hold it was filled with wickedness and evil.
- All of which would suggest that a film which casts spiders as the malevolent force of evil would be a natural fit for a when nature attacks horror movie.
- And then, just when victory would be at its closest, the forces of evil would surround him.
- Righting wrongs and fighting evil, corruption, wickedness and stupidity is just part time work.
- But a culture that is consciously bent on rejecting moral norms is on a collision course with profound evil.
- He then murders his girlfriend and chops off a certain body part of his own, all while imagining the cause of this to some sort of supernatural evil.
Synonyms
wickedness, bad, badness, wrong, wrongdoing, sin, sinfulness, ungodliness, immorality, vice, iniquity, turpitude, degeneracy, vileness, baseness, perversion, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, atrocity, malevolence, devilishness
1. 1.1 A manifestation of profound immorality and wickedness, especially in people's actions.
  the evil that took place last Thursday
  Example sentencesExamples
  So for days I ate turkey, feebly rationalizing that I wouldn't add the evil of waste to the evil of the murder of the poor birds, who by then were beyond pain.
  An evil of unimaginable proportions has been unleashed.
  The evil of these acts is almost too much to comprehend.
  I implore the May Day protesters to worry about real problems, rather than just labelling everything as an evil of capitalism.
  Many people have made the point that the Holocaust is not simply a terrible historical event, but a reminder for everyone of the evil of which humans are capable.
  He regarded vampirism as a curse, and the ultimate evil was to force it on someone unwilling.
  Next will be that perennial complaint by predictable hand wringers that children's toy advertising is a modern evil of biblical proportions.
  All of the priests I interviewed saw witchcraft as an intrinsic evil of the post-colonial economy.
  The evil of entrusting our liberty to politicians is compounded by a lack of independent safeguards or transparency.
  The Alliance will continue to use our powers for the good of promoting these two, rather than for the evil of working against those we don't want to win.
  But the whole business of slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, and a most horrible iniquity to traffic with slaves and souls of men; and an evil.
  And he spoke candidly of the whole Catholic Church in this country being ‘tainted with the evil of child abuse’.
  It protects me from the evil of surveillance - by officials, by the unwanted gaze of strangers, by anyone I chose to remain anonymous from.
  This resulted in the evil of the conquest of Eastern Europe by Red fascism, replacing Black fascism, whilst freeing Western Europe from the Black fascists.
  There are indications that romantic aberrations are becoming more and more an evil of underprivileged people.
  Synonyms
  abomination, atrocity, obscenity, outrage, enormity, crime, monstrosity, barbarity, barbarism
2. 1.2 Something which is harmful or undesirable.
  the various social evils of our modern world
  Example sentencesExamples
  It was a forced response, albeit a generous one, to the social evils that the hurricane had exposed.
  These evils are extraordinarily difficult to prove in particular cases.
  This is the latest episode in the vilification of videogames, which overnight has become a social evil up there with guns, pornography, and smoking.
  Where in the world has the African culture regarded the practice of homosexuality as a social evil?
  I owe the media thanks for acting like a mirror in exposing those social evils such as corruption.
  The blow by blow attack on social evils was delineated through other forms of folk art too.
  The protection of young people from smoking and other social evils are our responsibility.
  Professionals who excel in their field but become edentulous when they come up against a social evil.
  We are responsible to God if by our carelessness or neglect we lead our children into a life or crime or other social evils.
  Alms-giving should be eradicated as a social evil like untouchability.
  It was for the political reason that Nazism had ceased to be a social evil, especially when viewed alongside the new menace of communism.
  The course focuses on systemic evils and the social contexts that produce them.
  It is a minor skin problem yet it is considered a social evil.
  In a bold but lucid way he lays bare the social evils and rampant corruption in those times.
  To cope with such social evils, people spend money on more expensive products.
  Issues such as suicides of farmers, pollution and social evils are often the subjects.
  He urged the people to cooperate the district administration in its fight against social evils.
  She just doesn't get it - the depiction of family dysfunction is not a social evil.
  He had rendered an unrelenting battle against the social evils which was taken up by his disciples later.
  Hopefully the Biblical passage above will serve to act as a timely reminder of the evils and perils of dancing.
  Synonyms
  harm, pain, hurt, misery, sorrow, suffering, trauma, trouble, disaster, detriment, destruction, loss, misfortune, catastrophe, calamity, affliction, woe, ruin, hardship

Phrases

the evil eye

A gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause material harm.
he gave me the evil eye as I walked down the corridor
Example sentencesExamples
- About half of Bulgarians believe in telepathy, the evil eye and black magic, and that dreams can be prophetic.
- Before then, it might have been witchcraft or the evil eye.
- Male children are believed to be particularly vulnerable to the evil eye.
- The superstitious belief in the evil eye is ancient and widespread, though certainly not universal.
- I met one who said he was a white magic man, that he undid the evil eye and black magic spells, got rid of mischief from co-wives and restored potency to men.
- It is believed that the evil eye can be counteracted by many different protective and curative measures.
- Many Tamils also worship village deities, and believe in such popular superstitions as spirits and the evil eye.
- He could tell she didn't believe him, and began to give him the evil eye.
- Nor does he believe in the evil eye, bad omen, and that kind of stuff.
- The misconceptions include black magic, witchcraft, evil eye and being possessed by a spirit.

the Evil One

archaic The Devil.
Example sentencesExamples
- Each of my paintings is like a book, exposing the tricks of the Evil One, revealing hidden truths through metaphoric symbols, hidden passages and written text.
- But he puts it from him as a temptation of the Evil One, makes public confession on the pillory which had been the scene of Hester's shame, and dies in her arms.
- Remember that the Evil One is ruling over a community of noble savages, peace-loving people whose only problem is that they are oppressed by the Evil One.
- Or if you fall for the siren song of the Evil One, you're going to be drained dry and cast into the pit of flames in due course.

give someone (the) evils

informal Glare at someone.
a bus driver gave me evils when I paid with a note
Example sentencesExamples
- I had my little sister Marianne in the car with me, so I said, "Stare at him as we drive past; give him the evils!"
- Great pics too although they are definitely giving you the evils in that first one.
- I gave them the evils until they got the message.
- I still gave her the evils though, even when she boarded the train before ours.
- His mum gave me the evils from her bedroom window.
- Her little sister (adorable little six year old who keeps falling over and making me laugh) gave me the evils because I was taking her big sis away for the evening.
- And my cat is giving me the evils
- I sat there and gave her the evils for a few minutes but she never looked up.
- I gave them the evils so they knew I was angry.
- She gave me the evils when I looked at her!

put off the evil day (or hour)

Postpone something unpleasant for as long as possible.
Example sentencesExamples
- The government is putting off the evil day of spending money at direct cost to the individuals who live along the coast.
- This is one of the earlier outdoor festivals on the calendar and, unfortunately, the dedicated committee, who have organised six highly successful Féiles so far, did not have the luxury of putting off the evil day.
- The easiest route for some seems to be to plan well ahead for another career, in other words, not to face the blank appointments diary at all but put off the evil day for some more years.
- Your Honour, in relation to the consequences, can I just say that if the case had any strength, the application would not be opposed but it does have a look of putting off the evil day.
- Experience in other jurisdictions shows that those on trial are only too willing to put off the evil day by taking ‘interlocutory’ points to appeal.
- The only thing managers can do is to try to put off the evil day by hook or crook.
- Even taking this line may only put off the evil day.
- In practice, greater accuracy can only put off the evil day by an insignificant amount.
- The motive for trying to prolong a detailed assessment, namely putting off the evil day when payment has to be made, will be considerably reduced when he who has to pay can only put off the evil day in respect of a considerably reduced sum.
- But I am convinced that the right course adjustment now is better than dithering or putting off the evil day: sooner or later, even greater disruption, and perhaps worse, would follow.
Synonyms
put to one side, lay aside, pigeonhole, stay, stand over, keep in abeyance, suspend, mothball

speak evil of

Slander.
it is a sin to speak evil of the king
Example sentencesExamples
- I, too, shamelessly spoke evil of people behind their backs.
- But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My Name, that can lightly speak evil of Me.
- Everyone was in the lounge, still speaking evil of the mysterious guest.
- This last example was a particularly sensitive one for Luther, who took the time to explain to his congregation why he could speak evil of the pope and not break this commandment - he did it by virtue of his office as teacher of the church!
- Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
- Those who have the least will have the best chance to flourish in an environment free from daily assault by employers and occupying forces, neighbors and those who speak evil of them.
- And no one who does anything good, anything wondrous, or a deed of power will be able to soon afterward to speak evil of me.
- They never spoke evil of each other, and acted civil towards one another, which was an advantage for everyone.
- Second, Paul suggests that believers in this revitalization movement should act toward others with courtesy, concern, and kindness to avoid quarreling and speaking evil of them.
- The world could speak evil of Him and it would not shake your confidence in Him, in the least!
Synonyms
disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, revile, berate, belittle, abuse, insult, slight, attack, speak ill of, speak evil of, pour scorn on, cast aspersions on, criticize, censure, condemn, decry, denounce, pillory, lambaste

Origin

Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch euvel and German Übel.

单词	evil
释义	Definition of evil in English: evil adjective ˈiːv(ə)lˈiːvɪlˈivəl 1Profoundly immoral and wicked. his evil deeds no man is so evil as to be beyond redemption Example sentencesExamples A girl can't even get the satisfaction of contemplating evil deeds in a properly villainous position these days! If it had not been for that day, she'd still be living with her mother, not knowing anything about her evil grandfather and his wicked schemes. Not to show overwhelming strength is immoral, since it will induce evildoers to perform more evil deeds because they'll think they can get away with it. His atrocities and evil deeds invited the curse. Since then, I have heard Destiny call us evil, abnormal and immoral. She will then be able to turn around and say - everyone knows of this person, everyone has heard of this person, and his evil deeds that I allege he's done. We read about someone who does evil deeds and is of wrong view, and who has an unhappy rebirth. The Queen's Park sex attacker has already told friends or family about his evil deed, according to the man leading the hunt to catch him. A man is either good, bad or evil, moral or immoral. She too is evil, dark and wicked and she too will pay the price if she does die. ‘These people have to repent their evil deeds and show they have repented,’ he said. The act of killing thousands of innocent people is profoundly evil and we rightly abhor it. Synonyms wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonourable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, dark, black-hearted monstrous, shocking, despicable, atrocious, heinous, odious, contemptible, horrible, execrable informal low-down, stinking, dirty, shady, warped, bent, crooked archaic dastardly, black rare egregious, flagitious, peccable 1.1 (of a force or spirit) embodying or associated with the forces of the devil. we were driven out of the house by an evil spirit Example sentencesExamples Does that influence your view on what these folk are seeing - whether evil spirits, or unexplained forces, or loved ones from beyond? Tradition associates dances with the casting out of evil spirits. It is here that beef eating begins to become associated with pollution and evil spirits. Had we stuck with the supernatural explanation, we would never have advanced beyond blood letting or exorcisms to get the evil spirits out. The malevolent exercise of supposed supernatural powers, especially by women, attributed to a connection with the devil or evil spirits. The devils and evil spirits of the next day were perhaps more psychosomatic and drawn from the excesses of the night before than derived from a Celtic past. The trees that stood around us seemed to grope around, like evil spirits searching for souls. It can also take the form of an exorcism, where the treatment is meant to drive out an evil spirit or devil from the victim. The captain of the bad team is the devil, assisted by demons, evil spirits and politicians. Exhausted from the heat, the great serpent and all the evil spirits and little serpents fell asleep. It also says that a warlock so powerful will be born and he alone can stop this evil force from walking the Earth. Also bonfires were lit to driveaway evil forces. It includes dances representing good and evil forces in the form of maidens and devils. This tale goes back hundreds of years to a time when cats were associated with witchcraft and evil spirits. He precedes the dancers and it is his duty to crack the whip to drive away any evil spirits or forces of evil. When I think of the devil, I don't picture an evil force out to destroy us all by any means necessary. They used powerful spells on the relic, that would prove to be most potent and would repel evil forces from using it. He therefore becomes demonised, an evil spirit or Devil. The Devil's Stone, it read, contained the many evil spirits and souls of the past. It is very different from the image of a binding and restraining of evil forces, although later traditions imply that this was the work of Day One, and so part of the forbidden mystery. 1.2 Harmful or tending to harm. the evil effects of high taxes Example sentencesExamples One little girl reminded me that the guitar, too, is hard to use to really evil effect if it is at least in tune. An evil act, a destructive act, is a choice made by a human being. Taxes with or without representation are evil, ever fostering harm and destruction. It is a lesson which some of our less enlightened citizens would do well to learn before they put pen to paper decrying the wholesale evil effects of immigration. In his homily he urged the young people to remain loyal to the pledge to abstain from alcohol which they were taking, and warned them of the evil effect on society from the use of drugs. Many of the participants painted wine glass in flames and a serpent coming out of a liquor bottle, throwing light on the evil effects of drinking. The ceremony was prompted by an astrologer who told the girl's father that the union would transfer the evil effects of the planet Saturn from the girl to the dog. Logically, if one follows the common mores of the west, the intent to ‘do harm’ would be evil. People throng it to ward off the evil effects of this planet. I see arising a great movement among women to safeguard themselves and their children from the evil effects of too liberal a capitalism. Having good intentions, not harming others, avoiding evil actions and making the heart and mind pure in thought were among the truths spoken by the Buddha. Britain's colonial policy, which resulted in the annexation of NZ in 1840, was also shaped by a desire to limit the evil effects of the felonry on Maori. He was so certain as to the evil effects that he might not go out, fearing some street accident. That's what good laws do, father: restrain the evil effects of misuse of free will. Protecting civilians from the evil effects of battle has long been a fundamental goal of the law of armed conflict. If you are not prepared to consider the evil effects of the war alongside the putative advantages, then you will be unlikely to reach a reliable evaluation of the evidence. Synonyms harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, deleterious, inimical, bad, mischievous, pernicious, malignant, malign, baleful, venomous, noxious, poisonous corrupting, subversive calamitous, disastrous, destructive, ruinous literary malefic, maleficent rare prejudicious unlucky, unfortunate, unfavourable, adverse, unhappy, disastrous, catastrophic, ruinous, calamitous, unpropitious, inauspicious, dire, woeful 1.3 (of a smell or sight) extremely unpleasant. a bathroom with an ineradicably evil smell Example sentencesExamples It also seemed to have been taken for granted that it was the source of the evil smell that lingered in the room. The whole place had a damp and evil smell, and as I moved my torch a rat scuttled across the floor. One of these, when I knew it many years ago, was black, splattered with pigeon droppings, subjected to dense fogs, evil smells, filth everywhere. Speight's putsch has the evil smell of a South Pacific Kristallnacht. Borne along by the flow of traffic, she passed through the forum arch into a stew of noises, colors, and evil smells. Synonyms unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty, horrible, foul, filthy, vile inclement, wet, rainy, stormy, squally, blustery, cold, freezing, foggy noun ˈiːv(ə)lˈiːvɪlˈivəl mass noun 1Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force. his struggle against the forces of evil Example sentencesExamples They are still recovering from their battle with the forces of evil who sought to destroy all who live in the great house. But a culture that is consciously bent on rejecting moral norms is on a collision course with profound evil. All of which would suggest that a film which casts spiders as the malevolent force of evil would be a natural fit for a when nature attacks horror movie. These characters may be incarnates of some supernatural evil, but it's not likely. I believe that my dharma is to prove that the Force for Good takes precedence over the force for evil in mankind. It is time for goodness and Godliness to triumph once more over wickedness and evil. You have won a place in this world, but remember, the last to hold it was filled with wickedness and evil. Righting wrongs and fighting evil, corruption, wickedness and stupidity is just part time work. And we hold you up in pride as our symbol in the fight of Good against the forces of darkness and evil. Watch them battle the forces of evil in the guise of a smiling clown. Heroic deeds reinforce the bonds of the human condition in ways that resist the forces of terror and evil. And then, just when victory would be at its closest, the forces of evil would surround him. The forces of good and evil in the world have strengths and weaknesses such that neither side can vanquish the other. Military force defeats evil in comic books and at the movies. You follow the trail all the way back to, yep, supernatural evil, a hidden dark lord, whatever. The war that waged between the forces of good and evil would be filled with bloody battles and in accordance to the winner, the balance would shift. He then murders his girlfriend and chops off a certain body part of his own, all while imagining the cause of this to some sort of supernatural evil. In short, I tend to think the modern empire is fueled by greed and power and fear and other vestigial ape-politics, rather than some dark forces of ritualistic evil. Too bad the actor does not believe in liberating people from the forces of evil in the real world. What forces of evil could so cloud the minds of the designers that they would put the volume controls down a level from the main menu? Synonyms wickedness, bad, badness, wrong, wrongdoing, sin, sinfulness, ungodliness, immorality, vice, iniquity, turpitude, degeneracy, vileness, baseness, perversion, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, atrocity, malevolence, devilishness informal shadiness, crookedness rare peccability, peccancy 1.1count noun A manifestation of profound immorality and wickedness, especially in people's actions. the evil that took place last Thursday Example sentencesExamples An evil of unimaginable proportions has been unleashed. So for days I ate turkey, feebly rationalizing that I wouldn't add the evil of waste to the evil of the murder of the poor birds, who by then were beyond pain. There are indications that romantic aberrations are becoming more and more an evil of underprivileged people. The evil of these acts is almost too much to comprehend. The evil of entrusting our liberty to politicians is compounded by a lack of independent safeguards or transparency. And he spoke candidly of the whole Catholic Church in this country being ‘tainted with the evil of child abuse’. Many people have made the point that the Holocaust is not simply a terrible historical event, but a reminder for everyone of the evil of which humans are capable. He regarded vampirism as a curse, and the ultimate evil was to force it on someone unwilling. It protects me from the evil of surveillance - by officials, by the unwanted gaze of strangers, by anyone I chose to remain anonymous from. But the whole business of slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, and a most horrible iniquity to traffic with slaves and souls of men; and an evil. The Alliance will continue to use our powers for the good of promoting these two, rather than for the evil of working against those we don't want to win. Next will be that perennial complaint by predictable hand wringers that children's toy advertising is a modern evil of biblical proportions. All of the priests I interviewed saw witchcraft as an intrinsic evil of the post-colonial economy. This resulted in the evil of the conquest of Eastern Europe by Red fascism, replacing Black fascism, whilst freeing Western Europe from the Black fascists. I implore the May Day protesters to worry about real problems, rather than just labelling everything as an evil of capitalism. Synonyms abomination, atrocity, obscenity, outrage, enormity, crime, monstrosity, barbarity, barbarism 1.2count noun Something which is harmful or undesirable. the various social evils of our modern world Example sentencesExamples Where in the world has the African culture regarded the practice of homosexuality as a social evil? The protection of young people from smoking and other social evils are our responsibility. To cope with such social evils, people spend money on more expensive products. In a bold but lucid way he lays bare the social evils and rampant corruption in those times. It is a minor skin problem yet it is considered a social evil. These evils are extraordinarily difficult to prove in particular cases. This is the latest episode in the vilification of videogames, which overnight has become a social evil up there with guns, pornography, and smoking. The course focuses on systemic evils and the social contexts that produce them. The blow by blow attack on social evils was delineated through other forms of folk art too. She just doesn't get it - the depiction of family dysfunction is not a social evil. Professionals who excel in their field but become edentulous when they come up against a social evil. Alms-giving should be eradicated as a social evil like untouchability. He urged the people to cooperate the district administration in its fight against social evils. I owe the media thanks for acting like a mirror in exposing those social evils such as corruption. We are responsible to God if by our carelessness or neglect we lead our children into a life or crime or other social evils. It was a forced response, albeit a generous one, to the social evils that the hurricane had exposed. It was for the political reason that Nazism had ceased to be a social evil, especially when viewed alongside the new menace of communism. He had rendered an unrelenting battle against the social evils which was taken up by his disciples later. Hopefully the Biblical passage above will serve to act as a timely reminder of the evils and perils of dancing. Issues such as suicides of farmers, pollution and social evils are often the subjects. Synonyms harm, pain, hurt, misery, sorrow, suffering, trauma, trouble, disaster, detriment, destruction, loss, misfortune, catastrophe, calamity, affliction, woe, ruin, hardship ills Phrases the evil eye A gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause harm. he gave me the evil eye as I walked past Example sentencesExamples He could tell she didn't believe him, and began to give him the evil eye. I met one who said he was a white magic man, that he undid the evil eye and black magic spells, got rid of mischief from co-wives and restored potency to men. Many Tamils also worship village deities, and believe in such popular superstitions as spirits and the evil eye. It is believed that the evil eye can be counteracted by many different protective and curative measures. About half of Bulgarians believe in telepathy, the evil eye and black magic, and that dreams can be prophetic. Before then, it might have been witchcraft or the evil eye. Nor does he believe in the evil eye, bad omen, and that kind of stuff. Male children are believed to be particularly vulnerable to the evil eye. The misconceptions include black magic, witchcraft, evil eye and being possessed by a spirit. The superstitious belief in the evil eye is ancient and widespread, though certainly not universal. the Evil One archaic The Devil. Example sentencesExamples Or if you fall for the siren song of the Evil One, you're going to be drained dry and cast into the pit of flames in due course. But he puts it from him as a temptation of the Evil One, makes public confession on the pillory which had been the scene of Hester's shame, and dies in her arms. Each of my paintings is like a book, exposing the tricks of the Evil One, revealing hidden truths through metaphoric symbols, hidden passages and written text. Remember that the Evil One is ruling over a community of noble savages, peace-loving people whose only problem is that they are oppressed by the Evil One. give someone (the) evils informal Glare at someone. a bus driver gave me evils when I paid with a note Example sentencesExamples She gave me the evils when I looked at her! And my cat is giving me the evils I had my little sister Marianne in the car with me, so I said, "Stare at him as we drive past; give him the evils!" I gave them the evils so they knew I was angry. Her little sister (adorable little six year old who keeps falling over and making me laugh) gave me the evils because I was taking her big sis away for the evening. I gave them the evils until they got the message. I still gave her the evils though, even when she boarded the train before ours. I sat there and gave her the evils for a few minutes but she never looked up. Great pics too although they are definitely giving you the evils in that first one. His mum gave me the evils from her bedroom window. fall on evil days Suffer misfortune or a reversal. put off the evil day (or hour) Postpone something unpleasant for as long as possible. it is too easy for children to put off the evil day when they have to get down to work Example sentencesExamples This is one of the earlier outdoor festivals on the calendar and, unfortunately, the dedicated committee, who have organised six highly successful Féiles so far, did not have the luxury of putting off the evil day. The easiest route for some seems to be to plan well ahead for another career, in other words, not to face the blank appointments diary at all but put off the evil day for some more years. The only thing managers can do is to try to put off the evil day by hook or crook. The government is putting off the evil day of spending money at direct cost to the individuals who live along the coast. Your Honour, in relation to the consequences, can I just say that if the case had any strength, the application would not be opposed but it does have a look of putting off the evil day. The motive for trying to prolong a detailed assessment, namely putting off the evil day when payment has to be made, will be considerably reduced when he who has to pay can only put off the evil day in respect of a considerably reduced sum. Even taking this line may only put off the evil day. But I am convinced that the right course adjustment now is better than dithering or putting off the evil day: sooner or later, even greater disruption, and perhaps worse, would follow. Experience in other jurisdictions shows that those on trial are only too willing to put off the evil day by taking ‘interlocutory’ points to appeal. In practice, greater accuracy can only put off the evil day by an insignificant amount. Synonyms put to one side, lay aside, pigeonhole, stay, stand over, keep in abeyance, suspend, mothball speak evil of Slander. it is a sin to speak evil of the king Example sentencesExamples But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My Name, that can lightly speak evil of Me. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Everyone was in the lounge, still speaking evil of the mysterious guest. Second, Paul suggests that believers in this revitalization movement should act toward others with courtesy, concern, and kindness to avoid quarreling and speaking evil of them. They never spoke evil of each other, and acted civil towards one another, which was an advantage for everyone. This last example was a particularly sensitive one for Luther, who took the time to explain to his congregation why he could speak evil of the pope and not break this commandment - he did it by virtue of his office as teacher of the church! And no one who does anything good, anything wondrous, or a deed of power will be able to soon afterward to speak evil of me. Those who have the least will have the best chance to flourish in an environment free from daily assault by employers and occupying forces, neighbors and those who speak evil of them. The world could speak evil of Him and it would not shake your confidence in Him, in the least! I, too, shamelessly spoke evil of people behind their backs. Synonyms disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, revile, berate, belittle, abuse, insult, slight, attack, speak ill of, speak evil of, pour scorn on, cast aspersions on, criticize, censure, condemn, decry, denounce, pillory, lambaste Derivatives evilly adverb ˈiːv(ə)liˈivəlli An evilly disposed person might say that Attila the Hun had a similar lack of discretion. Example sentencesExamples But it descended into your stomach through your nose and mouth and sat there evilly. That vote may have been evilly garnered by preying on people's baser tendencies, but again, a vote's a vote. Tomorrow I will wear high heels and stare evilly at any tourists who stray like slow demented sheep into my path, as I stomp my way in to work. It comes from evil masterminds stroking their chin and smirking evilly. evilness noun ˈiːv(ə)lnəsˈivəlnəs But somehow, his evilness seems to find me anyway. Example sentencesExamples But instead of haranguing about corporate evilness, compete with them in the marketplace and be specific and even more energetic about bringing to light their polluting, wasting behaviors. The Child Catcher is a wonderful part because I can get rid of all the venom and evilness which has accumulated during the day. But this shows you the evilness of the perpetrators of this cowardly attack. The evil doers will be judged according to their work of evilness! Origin Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch euvel and German Übel. Like good and bad, evil goes back to the earliest times, and many have reflected on its nature over the centuries. ‘The evil that men do lives after them’, wrote Shakespeare in Julius Caesar. The proverb See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil is often represented by the image of ‘three wise monkeys’, who are pictured covering their eyes, ears, and mouth with their hands. The carving of the original monkeys is found on a shrine at Nikko in Japan. The idea of a necessary evil goes back to Greek. The first necessary evil was marriage, and the first example in English, from 1547, refers to a woman. In his State of the Union address of February 2002, US President George W. Bush said of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea that they constituted ‘an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of this world’. The phrase is now used to encapsulate the Bush administration's stance in foreign relations, much as the evil empire (inspired by the Star Wars films) summed up Ronald Reagan's view of the Soviet Union. Rhymes coeval, Khedival, medieval, primeval, retrieval, shrieval, upheaval adj.1 phr. Definition of evil in US English: evil adjectiveˈēvəlˈivəl 1Profoundly immoral and wicked. his evil deeds no man is so evil as to be beyond redemption Example sentencesExamples The Queen's Park sex attacker has already told friends or family about his evil deed, according to the man leading the hunt to catch him. She too is evil, dark and wicked and she too will pay the price if she does die. A man is either good, bad or evil, moral or immoral. His atrocities and evil deeds invited the curse. She will then be able to turn around and say - everyone knows of this person, everyone has heard of this person, and his evil deeds that I allege he's done. ‘These people have to repent their evil deeds and show they have repented,’ he said. Not to show overwhelming strength is immoral, since it will induce evildoers to perform more evil deeds because they'll think they can get away with it. We read about someone who does evil deeds and is of wrong view, and who has an unhappy rebirth. A girl can't even get the satisfaction of contemplating evil deeds in a properly villainous position these days! The act of killing thousands of innocent people is profoundly evil and we rightly abhor it. Since then, I have heard Destiny call us evil, abnormal and immoral. If it had not been for that day, she'd still be living with her mother, not knowing anything about her evil grandfather and his wicked schemes. Synonyms wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonourable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, dark, black-hearted 1.1 (of a force or spirit) embodying or associated with the forces of the devil. we were driven out of the house by an evil spirit Example sentencesExamples Does that influence your view on what these folk are seeing - whether evil spirits, or unexplained forces, or loved ones from beyond? The trees that stood around us seemed to grope around, like evil spirits searching for souls. He therefore becomes demonised, an evil spirit or Devil. The Devil's Stone, it read, contained the many evil spirits and souls of the past. It also says that a warlock so powerful will be born and he alone can stop this evil force from walking the Earth. This tale goes back hundreds of years to a time when cats were associated with witchcraft and evil spirits. Tradition associates dances with the casting out of evil spirits. It is here that beef eating begins to become associated with pollution and evil spirits. It is very different from the image of a binding and restraining of evil forces, although later traditions imply that this was the work of Day One, and so part of the forbidden mystery. It can also take the form of an exorcism, where the treatment is meant to drive out an evil spirit or devil from the victim. It includes dances representing good and evil forces in the form of maidens and devils. The captain of the bad team is the devil, assisted by demons, evil spirits and politicians. They used powerful spells on the relic, that would prove to be most potent and would repel evil forces from using it. He precedes the dancers and it is his duty to crack the whip to drive away any evil spirits or forces of evil. When I think of the devil, I don't picture an evil force out to destroy us all by any means necessary. The devils and evil spirits of the next day were perhaps more psychosomatic and drawn from the excesses of the night before than derived from a Celtic past. Exhausted from the heat, the great serpent and all the evil spirits and little serpents fell asleep. Had we stuck with the supernatural explanation, we would never have advanced beyond blood letting or exorcisms to get the evil spirits out. The malevolent exercise of supposed supernatural powers, especially by women, attributed to a connection with the devil or evil spirits. Also bonfires were lit to driveaway evil forces. 1.2 Harmful or tending to harm. stories about the evil effects of television on children make good copy Example sentencesExamples An evil act, a destructive act, is a choice made by a human being. In his homily he urged the young people to remain loyal to the pledge to abstain from alcohol which they were taking, and warned them of the evil effect on society from the use of drugs. It is a lesson which some of our less enlightened citizens would do well to learn before they put pen to paper decrying the wholesale evil effects of immigration. Many of the participants painted wine glass in flames and a serpent coming out of a liquor bottle, throwing light on the evil effects of drinking. The ceremony was prompted by an astrologer who told the girl's father that the union would transfer the evil effects of the planet Saturn from the girl to the dog. People throng it to ward off the evil effects of this planet. He was so certain as to the evil effects that he might not go out, fearing some street accident. Taxes with or without representation are evil, ever fostering harm and destruction. I see arising a great movement among women to safeguard themselves and their children from the evil effects of too liberal a capitalism. Logically, if one follows the common mores of the west, the intent to ‘do harm’ would be evil. That's what good laws do, father: restrain the evil effects of misuse of free will. Britain's colonial policy, which resulted in the annexation of NZ in 1840, was also shaped by a desire to limit the evil effects of the felonry on Maori. If you are not prepared to consider the evil effects of the war alongside the putative advantages, then you will be unlikely to reach a reliable evaluation of the evidence. One little girl reminded me that the guitar, too, is hard to use to really evil effect if it is at least in tune. Protecting civilians from the evil effects of battle has long been a fundamental goal of the law of armed conflict. Having good intentions, not harming others, avoiding evil actions and making the heart and mind pure in thought were among the truths spoken by the Buddha. Synonyms unlucky, unfortunate, unfavourable, adverse, unhappy, disastrous, catastrophic, ruinous, calamitous, unpropitious, inauspicious, dire, woeful harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, deleterious, inimical, bad, mischievous, pernicious, malignant, malign, baleful, venomous, noxious, poisonous 1.3 (of a smell or sight) extremely unpleasant. a bathroom with an ineradicably evil smell Example sentencesExamples One of these, when I knew it many years ago, was black, splattered with pigeon droppings, subjected to dense fogs, evil smells, filth everywhere. Speight's putsch has the evil smell of a South Pacific Kristallnacht. Borne along by the flow of traffic, she passed through the forum arch into a stew of noises, colors, and evil smells. The whole place had a damp and evil smell, and as I moved my torch a rat scuttled across the floor. It also seemed to have been taken for granted that it was the source of the evil smell that lingered in the room. Synonyms unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty, horrible, foul, filthy, vile nounˈēvəlˈivəl 1Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force. the world is stalked by relentless evil good and evil in eternal opposition Example sentencesExamples What forces of evil could so cloud the minds of the designers that they would put the volume controls down a level from the main menu? You follow the trail all the way back to, yep, supernatural evil, a hidden dark lord, whatever. Too bad the actor does not believe in liberating people from the forces of evil in the real world. In short, I tend to think the modern empire is fueled by greed and power and fear and other vestigial ape-politics, rather than some dark forces of ritualistic evil. Military force defeats evil in comic books and at the movies. They are still recovering from their battle with the forces of evil who sought to destroy all who live in the great house. The war that waged between the forces of good and evil would be filled with bloody battles and in accordance to the winner, the balance would shift. The forces of good and evil in the world have strengths and weaknesses such that neither side can vanquish the other. These characters may be incarnates of some supernatural evil, but it's not likely. I believe that my dharma is to prove that the Force for Good takes precedence over the force for evil in mankind. Watch them battle the forces of evil in the guise of a smiling clown. And we hold you up in pride as our symbol in the fight of Good against the forces of darkness and evil. Heroic deeds reinforce the bonds of the human condition in ways that resist the forces of terror and evil. It is time for goodness and Godliness to triumph once more over wickedness and evil. You have won a place in this world, but remember, the last to hold it was filled with wickedness and evil. All of which would suggest that a film which casts spiders as the malevolent force of evil would be a natural fit for a when nature attacks horror movie. And then, just when victory would be at its closest, the forces of evil would surround him. Righting wrongs and fighting evil, corruption, wickedness and stupidity is just part time work. But a culture that is consciously bent on rejecting moral norms is on a collision course with profound evil. He then murders his girlfriend and chops off a certain body part of his own, all while imagining the cause of this to some sort of supernatural evil. Synonyms wickedness, bad, badness, wrong, wrongdoing, sin, sinfulness, ungodliness, immorality, vice, iniquity, turpitude, degeneracy, vileness, baseness, perversion, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, atrocity, malevolence, devilishness 1.1 A manifestation of profound immorality and wickedness, especially in people's actions. the evil that took place last Thursday Example sentencesExamples So for days I ate turkey, feebly rationalizing that I wouldn't add the evil of waste to the evil of the murder of the poor birds, who by then were beyond pain. An evil of unimaginable proportions has been unleashed. The evil of these acts is almost too much to comprehend. I implore the May Day protesters to worry about real problems, rather than just labelling everything as an evil of capitalism. Many people have made the point that the Holocaust is not simply a terrible historical event, but a reminder for everyone of the evil of which humans are capable. He regarded vampirism as a curse, and the ultimate evil was to force it on someone unwilling. Next will be that perennial complaint by predictable hand wringers that children's toy advertising is a modern evil of biblical proportions. All of the priests I interviewed saw witchcraft as an intrinsic evil of the post-colonial economy. The evil of entrusting our liberty to politicians is compounded by a lack of independent safeguards or transparency. The Alliance will continue to use our powers for the good of promoting these two, rather than for the evil of working against those we don't want to win. But the whole business of slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, and a most horrible iniquity to traffic with slaves and souls of men; and an evil. And he spoke candidly of the whole Catholic Church in this country being ‘tainted with the evil of child abuse’. It protects me from the evil of surveillance - by officials, by the unwanted gaze of strangers, by anyone I chose to remain anonymous from. This resulted in the evil of the conquest of Eastern Europe by Red fascism, replacing Black fascism, whilst freeing Western Europe from the Black fascists. There are indications that romantic aberrations are becoming more and more an evil of underprivileged people. Synonyms abomination, atrocity, obscenity, outrage, enormity, crime, monstrosity, barbarity, barbarism 1.2 Something which is harmful or undesirable. the various social evils of our modern world Example sentencesExamples It was a forced response, albeit a generous one, to the social evils that the hurricane had exposed. These evils are extraordinarily difficult to prove in particular cases. This is the latest episode in the vilification of videogames, which overnight has become a social evil up there with guns, pornography, and smoking. Where in the world has the African culture regarded the practice of homosexuality as a social evil? I owe the media thanks for acting like a mirror in exposing those social evils such as corruption. The blow by blow attack on social evils was delineated through other forms of folk art too. The protection of young people from smoking and other social evils are our responsibility. Professionals who excel in their field but become edentulous when they come up against a social evil. We are responsible to God if by our carelessness or neglect we lead our children into a life or crime or other social evils. Alms-giving should be eradicated as a social evil like untouchability. It was for the political reason that Nazism had ceased to be a social evil, especially when viewed alongside the new menace of communism. The course focuses on systemic evils and the social contexts that produce them. It is a minor skin problem yet it is considered a social evil. In a bold but lucid way he lays bare the social evils and rampant corruption in those times. To cope with such social evils, people spend money on more expensive products. Issues such as suicides of farmers, pollution and social evils are often the subjects. He urged the people to cooperate the district administration in its fight against social evils. She just doesn't get it - the depiction of family dysfunction is not a social evil. He had rendered an unrelenting battle against the social evils which was taken up by his disciples later. Hopefully the Biblical passage above will serve to act as a timely reminder of the evils and perils of dancing. Synonyms harm, pain, hurt, misery, sorrow, suffering, trauma, trouble, disaster, detriment, destruction, loss, misfortune, catastrophe, calamity, affliction, woe, ruin, hardship Phrases the evil eye A gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause material harm. he gave me the evil eye as I walked down the corridor Example sentencesExamples About half of Bulgarians believe in telepathy, the evil eye and black magic, and that dreams can be prophetic. Before then, it might have been witchcraft or the evil eye. Male children are believed to be particularly vulnerable to the evil eye. The superstitious belief in the evil eye is ancient and widespread, though certainly not universal. I met one who said he was a white magic man, that he undid the evil eye and black magic spells, got rid of mischief from co-wives and restored potency to men. It is believed that the evil eye can be counteracted by many different protective and curative measures. Many Tamils also worship village deities, and believe in such popular superstitions as spirits and the evil eye. He could tell she didn't believe him, and began to give him the evil eye. Nor does he believe in the evil eye, bad omen, and that kind of stuff. The misconceptions include black magic, witchcraft, evil eye and being possessed by a spirit. the Evil One archaic The Devil. Example sentencesExamples Each of my paintings is like a book, exposing the tricks of the Evil One, revealing hidden truths through metaphoric symbols, hidden passages and written text. But he puts it from him as a temptation of the Evil One, makes public confession on the pillory which had been the scene of Hester's shame, and dies in her arms. Remember that the Evil One is ruling over a community of noble savages, peace-loving people whose only problem is that they are oppressed by the Evil One. Or if you fall for the siren song of the Evil One, you're going to be drained dry and cast into the pit of flames in due course. give someone (the) evils informal Glare at someone. a bus driver gave me evils when I paid with a note Example sentencesExamples I had my little sister Marianne in the car with me, so I said, "Stare at him as we drive past; give him the evils!" Great pics too although they are definitely giving you the evils in that first one. I gave them the evils until they got the message. I still gave her the evils though, even when she boarded the train before ours. His mum gave me the evils from her bedroom window. Her little sister (adorable little six year old who keeps falling over and making me laugh) gave me the evils because I was taking her big sis away for the evening. And my cat is giving me the evils I sat there and gave her the evils for a few minutes but she never looked up. I gave them the evils so they knew I was angry. She gave me the evils when I looked at her! put off the evil day (or hour) Postpone something unpleasant for as long as possible. Example sentencesExamples The government is putting off the evil day of spending money at direct cost to the individuals who live along the coast. This is one of the earlier outdoor festivals on the calendar and, unfortunately, the dedicated committee, who have organised six highly successful Féiles so far, did not have the luxury of putting off the evil day. The easiest route for some seems to be to plan well ahead for another career, in other words, not to face the blank appointments diary at all but put off the evil day for some more years. Your Honour, in relation to the consequences, can I just say that if the case had any strength, the application would not be opposed but it does have a look of putting off the evil day. Experience in other jurisdictions shows that those on trial are only too willing to put off the evil day by taking ‘interlocutory’ points to appeal. The only thing managers can do is to try to put off the evil day by hook or crook. Even taking this line may only put off the evil day. In practice, greater accuracy can only put off the evil day by an insignificant amount. The motive for trying to prolong a detailed assessment, namely putting off the evil day when payment has to be made, will be considerably reduced when he who has to pay can only put off the evil day in respect of a considerably reduced sum. But I am convinced that the right course adjustment now is better than dithering or putting off the evil day: sooner or later, even greater disruption, and perhaps worse, would follow. Synonyms put to one side, lay aside, pigeonhole, stay, stand over, keep in abeyance, suspend, mothball speak evil of Slander. it is a sin to speak evil of the king Example sentencesExamples I, too, shamelessly spoke evil of people behind their backs. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My Name, that can lightly speak evil of Me. Everyone was in the lounge, still speaking evil of the mysterious guest. This last example was a particularly sensitive one for Luther, who took the time to explain to his congregation why he could speak evil of the pope and not break this commandment - he did it by virtue of his office as teacher of the church! Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Those who have the least will have the best chance to flourish in an environment free from daily assault by employers and occupying forces, neighbors and those who speak evil of them. And no one who does anything good, anything wondrous, or a deed of power will be able to soon afterward to speak evil of me. They never spoke evil of each other, and acted civil towards one another, which was an advantage for everyone. Second, Paul suggests that believers in this revitalization movement should act toward others with courtesy, concern, and kindness to avoid quarreling and speaking evil of them. The world could speak evil of Him and it would not shake your confidence in Him, in the least! Synonyms disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, revile, berate, belittle, abuse, insult, slight, attack, speak ill of, speak evil of, pour scorn on, cast aspersions on, criticize, censure, condemn, decry, denounce, pillory, lambaste Origin Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch euvel and German Übel. adj.1 phr.
随便看	chromatographs chromatography chromatophore chromatophoric chromatophoric chromatopsia chrome -chrome chrome alum chromed Chromel chrome leather chrome red chromes chrome steel chrome yellow chromic -chromic chromic acid chromide chromides chrominance chroming chromite chromites