evile‧vil1 /ˈiːvəl/ ●●○ S3 W3 adjective 
an evil dictator responsible for the deaths of millions his evil deeds2wrong something that is evil is morally wrong because it harms people SYN wicked: They condemned slavery as evil.3unpleasant very unpleasant: an evil smell a puddle of evil black liquid4devil connected with the Devil and having special powers to harm people: evil spirits an evil spell5the evil eye the power, which some people believe exists, to harm people by looking at them: He claimed to have the power of the evil eye.6the evil hour/day etc a time when you expect something unpleasant or difficult to happen: Don’t delay, you’re only putting off the evil hour.—evilly adverb: Jeff grinned evilly as he picked up the phone.
WORD ORIGINevil1
Origin:
Old English yfelEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- In the movie, the hero has to rescue the world from an evil scientist.
- Sue says that TV talk shows are evil.
- There's an evil smell coming from the fridge.
- Blake was skeptical, wondering if it were really an evil spirit.
- Or did evil Uncle Humbert destroy it, because under the law he would then get a piece of the action?
- The dark, evil, beautiful one.
- The eyes of the lynch mob were uncomprehendingly evil.
- What I and my friends put down to evil witchcraft, my enemies are likely to attribute to incompetence or bad management.
Longman Language Activatorwords for describing bad people or behaviour
use this about behaviour that is morally wrong, or about people who do things that are morally wrong: · In most movies, the bad guy gets caught in the end.· He had a bad influence on his younger brother.· Is there any crime worse than murdering a child?· It never occurred to Sally that the man had any bad intentions.
use this about actions that you believe are morally wrong and unacceptable, even if they are not illegal: · Many people think that testing cosmetics on animals is immoral.· To spend £23 billion on nuclear weapons is immoral, and a terrible waste of money.· Critics complain that the lyrics of the song encourage anti-social and immoral behavior.
deliberately very bad and very cruel to other people: · Police described the crime as wicked and inhuman.· He was an evil man who felt no sympathy for his victims.
informal use this about someone who is not at all honest, helpful, or kind: · That friend of yours is no good. I want you to stay away from her.· My first husband was a no-good, low-down son-of-a-bitch.
someone who is sinister looks bad or evil, so that other people are frightened of them: · Her dark eyes and evil laugh made her seem sinister.something sinister about somebody: · The man was dressed in a black suit and wore dark glasses. There was something sinister about him.
behaving in an unusually cruel and shocking way, that is not at all normal: · What kind of sick and twisted person would do such a thing?· Whoever sent you these disgusting letters must be twisted.
completely evil and morally unacceptable: · He was described as dangerous and depraved and a menace to society.· The film is about a psychiatrist who helps the police capture a depraved serial killer.
involving sexual behaviour or intentions that are considered immoral, unnatural, and harmful: · The newspaper has described the killer as perverted and sexually deviant.· They saw the affection she had for such an old man as unnatural and possibly perverted.
WORD SETSbanshee, nouncoven, noundemon, noundemonic, adjectivedevil, nounESP, nounevil, adjectiveexorcism, nounexorcist, nounexorcize, verbextra-sensory perception, nounfiend, nounfortune-teller, nounmedium, nounmind reader, nounnecromancy, nounpalmist, nounpalmistry, nounpalm reader, nounparanormal, adjectiveparapsychology, nounpossessed, adjectiveprophecy, nounprophesy, verbpsychic, adjectivepsychic, nounpsychokinesis, nounseance, nounsoothsayer, nounspirit, nounSvengali, nountarot, nountelepathic, adjectivetelepathy, nounwitch, nounwizard, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She tried to strangle her baby and her lover helped her finish the evil deed. the struggle between good and evil The love of money is the root of all evil.
She tried to strangle her baby and her lover helped her finish the evil deed. the struggle between good and evil The love of money is the root of all evil.· The people still believe in evil spells.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· It culminates in Athens, just when Athens too was falling upon evil days.
· Endued with evenness of mind, one casts off in this very life both good deeds and evil deeds.· It was Ariel who tortured Antonio and the king with visions that made them repent their evil deeds.
· Just the thing to bring down the evil empire.
· It can nullify the evil eye.· They avoided our glances as if we might bestow the evil eye.
· Zarathustra interpreted the struggle between good and evil forces in ethical terms, and he believed that it pervaded the whole universe.· Are they evil, or does an evil force temporarily inhabit their soul?· True, they are playing with great danger, but they may never really experience communion with the evil force behind astrology.· KineHUHre is used as a verbal device similar to knocking on wood to ward off evil forces.· Yet the artists engaged in these works were in no mood to present the barbarians as the incarnation of evil forces.· He was just temporarily subjugated by an evil force.· The 1950s language of good and evil forces, of worldwide pacts, bases and influence is their natural speech.· Ahab feels then that he must destroy these evil forces in order to survive as a free man.
· Mr. Beck is an evil man.· But Hoxey is man evil man, Father.· Are we good or evil men?· He did not consider himself an evil man.· He is an evil man, bad, very bad.· Did I mention that the Princess's brother is really quite an evil man?· Ben takes you there and he brings you back, but there are the in-between times, and evil men are clever.· If once Odysseus got home those evil men would have a short shrift and a bitter end.
· The acceptance of these gifts would keep the child safe from evil powers for life.· Balor had two eyes, one being invested with so much evil power that it took four men to lift the eye-lid.· He told the woman she was a witch and was holding her husband under a strange and evil power.
· He healed the sick, raised the dead, exercised authority over the evil spirits and forgave sins.· Two green glazed lions guarded the gates to keep evil spirits at bay.· Firstly, it is not the case that the evil spirits of the New Testament are remotely similar to animist spirits.· Ancient evil spirits went by a new name.· It was commonly believed that some evil spirits lost their strength in daylight.· Blake was skeptical, wondering if it were really an evil spirit.· The demonic figures wearing ugly masks and straw and brushwood clothes are intended to scare away evil spirits.· They crack cart whips to drive away evil spirits.
· He has done evil things, but to me he is still the little boy I loved and cared for.· Power does strange and evil things.· Telling me the strangest things sometimes, evil things - till I want to shout out or smash them to pieces.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be evil/beauty/greed etc incarnate► serious-minded/evil-minded etc
1bad someone who is evil deliberately does very cruel things to harm other people: - It can nullify the evil eye.
- Looking at him, I can see why the ignorant give credence to the Evil Eye.
- She brushes her teeth with fluoride, but spits to deter the Evil Eye.
- They avoided our glances as if we might bestow the evil eye.
- Putting off the evil hour, she suspected.
- At the core of Hampden Babylon is a titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil.
- It could fight the forces of evil.
- It is an age-old heresy to see the world as a battleground between the forces of good and evil.
- It will be a struggle between your hero and whatever associates he may have and the forces of evil opposed to him.
- Now he's restating his submission to the Bara Bhai and the forces of good.
- Television is therefore seen to be taking the moral high ground, the side of the punter against the forces of evil.
- At least they chose the lesser of two evils, but even so Tank managed to create havoc.
- Mansfield saw the difficulty in reconciling the two principles, but thought that certainty was the lesser of two evils.
- So people go to the polls convinced their only choice is the lesser of two evils.
- They regarded the ditching of a widely respected Chancellor, in somewhat undignified circumstances, as the lesser of two evils.
- While not particularly welcome, the black knight is considered the lesser of two evils.
- I, for one, consider yard work to be a necessary evil.
- Bureaucracy was also a necessary evil to cope with the ravages of war.
- However, the authors, like most others then and now, saw those shortcomings as a necessary evil in maintaining control.
- It may be a necessary evil, but it is surely an evil.
- Lawyers are a necessary evil that I try to use as little as possible due to their cost.
- Mr Waldegrave's shambolic performance in the press conference was a necessary evil.
- They're a necessary evil, like the woman who sawed off all my lovely hair.
- They viewed such methods as a necessary evil, unavoidable yet somehow beneath their dignity.
- We do not look at government as a necessary evil.
- May we seek to develop the powers of good that lie within us.
- So close to the powers of evil she must have lived that she still breathed more freely in their air.
an evil dictator responsible for the deaths of millions his evil deeds2wrong something that is evil is morally wrong because it harms people SYN wicked: They condemned slavery as evil.3unpleasant very unpleasant: an evil smell a puddle of evil black liquid4devil connected with the Devil and having special powers to harm people: evil spirits an evil spell5the evil eye the power, which some people believe exists, to harm people by looking at them: He claimed to have the power of the evil eye.6the evil hour/day etc a time when you expect something unpleasant or difficult to happen: Don’t delay, you’re only putting off the evil hour.—evilly adverb: Jeff grinned evilly as he picked up the phone.