mischievous

American  

[mis-chuh-vuhs] / ˈmɪs tʃə vəs /

adjective

1. maliciously or playfully annoying.

2. causing annoyance, harm, or trouble.

3. roguishly or slyly teasing, as a glance.

4. harmful or injurious.

---

mischievous British  

/ ˈmɪstʃɪvəs /

adjective

1. inclined to acts of mischief

2. teasing; slightly malicious

   a mischievous grin

3. causing or intended to cause harm

   a mischievous plot

---

Pronunciation

The word mischievous has three syllables, mis-chie-vous, with the stress on the first syllable: . There is a common tendency to shift the stress to the second syllable and say or write the word as if there were an extra letter i after the v, turning it into a four-syllable word: . These alterations of the pronunciation (and sometimes even the spelling) may occur in part because in many English words ie is pronounced like ee, as in chief, in part because many words end with , spelled either -ious (as in devious ) or -eous (as in aqueous ), and in part because of confusion over where the second i in the word belongs. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that for some time in the evolution of the word—from about the sixteenth to the eighteenth century— mischievious was actually a fairly standard alternative spelling. Today, however, both the four-syllable spelling and the four-syllable pronunciation are generally regarded as nonstandard.

Other Word Forms

• mischievousness
  noun
• nonmischievousness
  noun
• nonmischievous
  adjective
• unmischievous
  adjective
• mischievously
  adverb
• nonmischievously
  adverb
• unmischievously
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of mischievous

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English mischevous, from Anglo-French meschevous; equivalent to mischief + -ous

Explanation

If you’re the one making prank phone calls at 3 am and you can’t resist short-sheeting your camp counselor’s bunk, you're mischievous. If your dog likes to decorate your house with streamers of toilet paper, he's mischievous, too. You can be mischievous in harmless, playful ways, or you might also use the word mischievous to describe behavior that's more than just a little naughty. If you post some embarrassing photos of an acquaintance, your more generous friends might describe your behavior as mischievous, although others might accuse you of being downright mean. Keep in mind that the word has only three syllables: MIS-chuh-vuhs.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mischievous

Flashing a mischievous smile in a 1999 interview with The Wall Street Journal, the tall technocrat described himself as an “ordinary Chinese with a bad temper.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

"The country and the world witnessed what happened at Jantar Mantar. Some mischievous youngsters hurled vile abuses," Modi, 75, said in a video posted on Instagram late Friday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

London then showed off her mischievous side as she attempted to climb out the window and onto the balcony.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

It's a mischievous visual ingrained in Glasgow's identity - and was even a source of inspiration for the graffiti artist Banksy.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

“Going out for exercise,” answered Jo with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• impish
• malicious
• naughty
• playful
• rude
• sly