evils

NOUN

badness, immorality; disaster

Synonyms

STRONGEST

calamity catastrophe corruption crime harm hatred ill misery pain sin suffering wrong

STRONG

affliction baseness blow criminality curse debauchery depravity devilry diabolism heinousness hurt impiety indecency infamy iniquity injury knavery lewdness licentiousness looseness malevolence malignity meanness mischief misfortune obscenity outrage perversity ruin sinfulness sorrow turpitude vice viciousness vileness villainy wickedness woe wrongdoing

WEAK

diablerie

Antonyms

STRONGEST

advantage benefit blessing boon cheer comfort fortune good fortune good luck goodness happiness health joy kindness pleasure profit

STRONG

aid benevolence cleanness decency good help innocence modesty morality nobility propriety purity relief uprightness virtue

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.

Denver Quarterly evidently bars material that lays bare social evils, since “we do not tolerate submissions that contain hate speech, bigotry, discrimination, or racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist language or violence of any kind.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

"It comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils."

From Barron's • Dec. 20, 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

You want to choose the lesser of all evils.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

And the evils of the night were about them.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck