Synonyms for sinister
- adjective
Most common
evil nefarious diabolical malevolent ominous menacing sinistral
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Evil — evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm
evil, dark, malevolent, nefarious, diabolical, baleful, wicked, devilish, diabolic, villainous, wrong, bad, satanic, malign, malicious, pernicious, vicious, corrupt, sinful, malignant, criminal, untoward
2. Ominous — inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate
ominous, menacing, portentous, foreboding, grim, disastrous, threatening, unfortunate, dire, forbidding, fatal, ill-starred, ill-fated, unlucky, lowering, ill-omened, minatory, boding, ill-boding, bodeful, gloomy, unpromising
Other
left, black, left-hand, under-handed, left-handed, sinistral
Definitions
- adj. 1
Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- adj. 2
Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
Related words
- Word family
- sinistral sinistrous
- Phrases
- bar sinister bend sinister
Example sentences
- evil Grr! Avoid not, unwelcome evil and cowardly beast!
- nefarious Nothing is more nefarious than hopelessness.
- diabolical To err is human, but to persist is diabolical.
- malevolent This world is controlled by malevolent forces.
- ominous The sky looks ominous. I wonder if it will rain.
- menacing The tide rushed into the estuary at a menacing pace.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| sinister | rising | |
| evil | rising | |
| nefarious | rising | |
| diabolical | rising | |
| malevolent | rising | |
| ominous | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- left1, dark1, evil2, grim1, dire1
- 5 letters
- black1, wrong1, fatal2
- 6 letters
- wicked2, gloomy2, sinful2, malign2, boding
- 7 letters
- corrupt2, vicious2, unlucky3, ominous3, satanic3, baleful2, bodeful
- 8 letters
- criminal3, lowering3, menacing3, devilish2, untoward3, diabolic, minatory
- 9 letters
- malicious3, malignant3, nefarious4, sinistral
- 10 letters
- disastrous3, forbidding3, diabolical5, malevolent4, pernicious3, villainous3, foreboding3, portentous3
- 11 letters
- threatening3, unfortunate4, unpromising4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).