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.

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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

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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

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

Etymology

Origin of mischievous

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

Example Sentences

And yet his abandoned undertaking is also a mischievous explosion of a storytelling format, a knowing critique of this most-wanted genre’s longstanding tropes: the eerie credit sequences, montages and music cues.

From Los Angeles Times

I just want to rap and I just want to tap into this kind of, like, mischievous character that I don’t think has really come out on any of my other projects.

From Los Angeles Times

She has created large canvases, embellished formal gloves and a gown, and—most shockingly—a decorated taxidermied goat covered in a menagerie of stitched animals, including a mischievous red-winged blackbird and a cheery possum.

From The Wall Street Journal

The light is just enough, though, to spot a colorful piece of clothing and the mischievous monkey holding it.

From Literature

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Laws as an "iconic voice" while actor and former neighbour Russell Crowe said he was a "mischievous mate".

From BBC

Related Words

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