Meaning & use
evil
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Deeply wicked and morally wrong, especially in a way that causes serious harm to others.
Grammar: It can come before a noun (an evil plan) or after a linking verb (the plan was evil).
Patterns
- an evil deed
- evil intentions
The villain in the story had an evil plan to poison the town's water.
Many people described the dictator as an evil man.
She felt an evil pleasure in watching her rival fail.
nouncountable or uncountable
Wickedness or moral wrongness in general, or a particular harmful or wrongful thing.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general idea (good and evil); countable for particular harms (social evils).
Patterns
- the evil of something
- an evil of something
Philosophers have long debated why evil exists in the world.
Poverty and ignorance are social evils that the charity tries to fight.
He chose the lesser of two evils and stayed silent.
adjectivebefore a nouninformal
Extremely unpleasant or harmful, such as a smell, temper or influence.
Grammar: Used for exaggeration or in set phrases like evil weather.
Patterns
- an evil smell
- an evil temper
The old milk gave off an evil smell.
The storm brought evil weather for three days.
He had an evil temper in the mornings before his coffee.
Word forms
| comparative | eviler |
|---|---|
| superlative | evilest |
| plural | evils |
Common combinations
- pure evil
- The film's villain was pure evil from start to finish.
- a necessary evil
- Traffic delays are a necessary evil during road repairs.
- good and evil
- The old tale is about the fight between good and evil.
- evil intent
- The judge found no evil intent in the actions of the young driver.
- the lesser of two evils
- Voters often feel they must pick the lesser of two evils.
- an evil laugh
- He gave an evil laugh and rubbed his hands together.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wicked
- Wicked is slightly lighter and can be playful, while evil is stronger and suggests deep, serious wrongdoing.
- malevolent
- Malevolent is more formal and focuses on wishing harm to others, whereas evil describes the badness itself.
- sinister
- Sinister hints at something threatening that may not yet be proved bad, while evil is plainly wicked.
- villainous
- Villainous suggests a character in a story, so it fits dramatic or humorous uses better than evil.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: evil or vile? evil or devil?
evil vs vile
Vile means disgusting or very unpleasant and is not always about moral wrongness.
evil vs devil
A devil is a supernatural being; evil is the quality or wrong itself.
Practice
Which sentence uses evil as a noun?
Choose one answer.
In the second sentence evil is the thing being defeated, so it is a noun. In the others it modifies a noun or follows a verb, so it is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “evil”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.