sinister

sinister
adjective Etymology: Middle English sinistre, from Anglo-French senestre on the left, from Latin sinistr-, sinister on the left side, unlucky, inauspicious Date: 15th century 1. archaic unfavorable, unlucky 2. archaic fraudulent 3. singularly evil or productive of evil 4. a. of, relating to, or situated to the left or on the left side of something; especially being or relating to the side of a heraldic shield at the left of the person bearing it b. of ill omen by reason of being on the left 5. presaging ill fortune or trouble 6. accompanied by or leading to disaster • sinisterly adverbsinisterness noun Synonyms: sinister, baleful, malign mean seriously threatening evil or disaster. sinister suggests a general or vague feeling of fear or apprehension on the part of the observer <
a sinister aura haunts the place
>
. baleful imputes perniciousness or destructiveness to something whether working openly or covertly <
exerting a corrupt and baleful influence
>
. malign applies to what is inherently evil or harmful <
the malign effects of racism
>
.

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sinister — is originally a Latin term for left or to the left (and by extension, left handedness), and is used in heraldry to refer to the left of the bearer of the arms, and to the right by the viewer s eyes. It is often used to mean evil.Sinister may also …   Wikipedia

  • sinister — sinister,[/p] baleful, malign, malefic, maleficent all mean seriously threatening, portending, or promising evil or disaster, usually imminent or already initiated evil or disaster. Sinister is the most commonly employed of these words and the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Sinister — Sin is*ter (s[i^]n [i^]s*t[ e]r; 277), a. Note: [Accented on the middle syllable by the older poets, as Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden.] [L. sinister: cf. F. sinistre.] 1. On the left hand, or the side of the left hand; left; opposed to {dexter}, or …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sinister — Жанр дэт метал Страна …   Википедия

  • sinister — [sin′is tər] adj. [ME sinistre < L sinister, left hand, or unlucky (side), orig. lucky (side) < IE base * sene , to prepare, achieve > Sans sánīyān, more favorable: early Roman augurs faced south, with the east (lucky side) to the left,… …   English World dictionary

  • sinister — early 15c., prompted by malice or ill will, from O.Fr. sinistre contrary, unfavorable, to the left, from L. sinister left, on the left side (opposite of dexter), perhaps from root *sen and meaning properly the slower or weaker hand [Tucker], but… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Sinister — Allgemeine Informatione …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sinister — (lat.), 1) link; Sinistrae tibiae, s.u. Flöte; 2) linkisch, verkehrt; 3) ungünstig, unglücklich; dagegen in den Auspicien der Römer glücklich, von guter Vorbedeutung …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Sinister — (lat.), link, linkisch; bei Vorzeichen in der Religionssprache der Römer ursprünglich glückverheißend, später nach griechischer Theorie unheilverkündend …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • sinister — I adjective alarming, baleful, baneful, blameworthy, censurable, cold blooded, comminatory, conscienceless, contemptible, corrupt, creepy, cruel, culpable, dangerous, demoniac, demoniacal, deserving of condemnation, designing, despiteful,… …   Law dictionary

  • sinister — [adj] nasty, menacing adverse, apocalyptic, bad, baleful, baneful, blackhearted, corrupt, deleterious, dire, disastrous, dishonest, disquieting, doomful, evil, foreboding, harmful, hurtful, ill boding, inauspicious, injurious, lowering, malefic,… …   New thesaurus

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”