black-heartedadj.
/ˌblakˈhɑːtᵻd/, U.S. /ˌblækˈhɑrdəd/ Having a black heart (in various senses). Chiefly figurative: having evil intentions; malevolent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil and dark > [adjective] > in heart
black-hearted1638
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adjective] > in heart, soul, or blood
black-hearted1638
black-souled1648
bad-hearted1739
black-blooded1771
bad-blooded1842
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 66 Espie their strength and winne black hearted fauters to his intentions.
1849 E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 175 The black-hearted gibes of a portion of our English press.
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 94 A dry, dead knot is left when they [sc. the branches] are cut off, which sometimes kills the center of the tree, making it ‘black-hearted’.
1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms iii. 20 He is a black-hearted villain.
2005 Dreamwatch Feb. 49/1 This little girl is..as poisonous and black-hearted as they can be, yet she is incredibly beautiful.
Derivatives
blackˈheartedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil and dark > [noun] > in heart
blackheartedness1813
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > in heart
blackheartedness1813
1813 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 13 Mar. 321 The baseness, the unparalleled black-heartedness, of her calumniators.
2000 Observer (Nexis) 12 Mar. (Review section) 12 The arch machinations he pulls off..send the novel into surprising reaches of farcical blackheartedness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1638