evil
Usage
What are other ways to say evil?
Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law: evil practices. Ill now appears mainly in certain fixed expressions, with a milder implication than that in evil: ill will; ill-natured. Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong: a wicked plan. Bad is the broadest and simplest term: a bad man; bad habits.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"People fear the environment where the shrine is. No evil will ever happen here. So, nobody fights vultures that perch here," a man they call the Vulture King tells the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Before Hannah Arendt defined the nature of totalitarian evil, she worked against it at the risk of her own safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Al-Zaydi described Luka as an "evil genius" and "a fox of a man".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We turn away from such evil at our own peril,” Kennedy maintained.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
He slid out of his desk, giving the evil eye to Daniel, who said “What?” while putting more wet flour on his tongue.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
A wary Tinseltown reluctantly lined up behind Netflix as the lesser of two evils, only to watch Paramount keep raising its bid until the streamer walked away.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Also, I am afraid your columns do not sufficiently extol the value of work, which Voltaire rightly claimed protects us from the evils of boredom, vice, and poverty.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
At its peak, there were over 6,000 Shakers, joining Ann in rebuking the gruesome, incalculable evils of war and preaching moral generosity.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2025
Bobi Wine defended Ampe, saying he was using social media to "expose corruption, abuse of power, oppression of lower ranking officers and other evils within the Uganda Prisons Service".
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
I anticipate rewards for goodness, and wait for the ax of punishment to fall upon evil, in spite of the years I’ve rocked in this cradle of rewarded evils and murdered goodness.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Vocabulary lists containing evil
Bush's Address on 9/11
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"Frankenstein" and "How Frankenstein Began"
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"The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury
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