evil
adjective
- malevolent; intending to harm
- morally corrupt
noun
- profound immorality
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈiːvəl/ / [ˈɪi̯vəl] ~ [ˈɪi̯vl̩] / /ˈiːvɪl/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). See -le for the supposed suffix. Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch euvel (“evil”), German übel (“bad, evil”), German Low German övel (“evil”), Luxembourgish iwwel (“queasy, nauseous; bad”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”).
- Intending to harm; malevolent.
“an evil plot to brainwash and even kill innocent people”
“For a good while the Miss Brownings were kept in ignorance of the evil tongues that whispered hard words about Molly.”
- Morally corrupt.
“If something is evil, it is never mandatory.”
“Do you think that companies that engage in animal testing are evil?”
- Unpleasant, foul (of odor, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
“1660, John Harding (translator), Paracelsus his Archidoxis, London: W.S., Book 7, “Of an Odoriferous Specifick,” p. 100, An Odoriferous Specifick […] is a Matter that takes away Diseases from the Sick, no otherwise then as Civet drives away the stinck of Ordure by its Odour; for you are to observe, That the Specifick doth permix it self with this evil Odour of the Dung; and the stink of the Dung cannot hurt, no[r] abide there […]”
“He awoke in an evil temper […]”
- Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
“The owl shrieked at thy birth,—an evil sign;”
“[…] he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel:”
- Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
“an evil beast; an evil plant; an evil crop”
“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.”
- Undesirable; harmful; bad practice.
“Global variables are evil; storing processing context in object member variables allows those objects to be reused in a much more flexible way.”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English yvele, yvel, ivel, from Old English yfele (“badly, evilly”), a derivative of the adjective yfel (“bad, evil”). Often reinterpreted as the noun in the later language (as in "to speak evil").
- wickedly, evilly, iniquitously
“O what of Gods then boots it to be borne, / If old Aveugles ſonnes ſo euill heare?”
- injuriously, harmfully; in a damaging way.
“And many ſhall follow their pernicious wayes, by reaſon of whom the way of trueth ſhall be euill ſpoken of:”
- badly, poorly; in an insufficient way.
“It went evil with him.”
“But (as the Poet ſaith) Malè ſarta gratia, nequicquam coit, & reſcinditur: Friendſhip, that is but euill peeced, will not ioine cloſe, but falleth aſunder againe:”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). See -le for the supposed suffix. Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch euvel (“evil”), German übel (“bad, evil”), German Low German övel (“evil”), Luxembourgish iwwel (“queasy, nauseous; bad”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”).
- Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
“The evils of society include murder and theft.”
“Evil lacks spirituality, hence its need for mind control.”
- Something which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; something which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; harm; injury; mischief.
“evils which our own misdeeds have wrought”
“The evil that men do lives after them.”
- A malady or disease; especially in combination, as in king's evil, colt evil.
“[The disease]Tis call'd the Euill.”
“He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil.”