Dictionary.com
definitions

mischief

[mis-chif]
See more synonyms for mischief on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance.
  2. a tendency or disposition to tease, vex, or annoy.
  3. a vexatious or annoying action.
  4. harm or trouble, especially as a result of an agent or cause.
  5. an injury or evil caused by a person or other agent or cause.
  6. a cause or source of harm, evil, or annoyance.
  7. the devil.

Origin of mischief

1250–1300; Middle English meschef < Old French, noun derivative of meschever to end badly, come to grief. See mis-1, achieve

Synonyms for mischief

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
4. hurt.

Synonym study

4. See damage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mischief

playfulness, evil, wrongdoing, vandalism, misconduct, prank, sabotage, catastrophe, harm, misbehavior, misfortune, roguery, outrage, injury, mischievousness, hurt, wrong, gag, rascality, naughtiness

Examples from the Web for mischief

Contemporary Examples of mischief

Historical Examples of mischief

  • She was smiling now, and he caught a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • You are like two kittens, and might be in mischief or danger before you knew.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • And yet is talk a less evil than the mischief of mere experimenters.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • She had thought of sending a telegram, but saw that that might do mischief.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • That scoundrel Corney has been about some mischief—damn him!

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for mischief

mischief

noun
  1. wayward but not malicious behaviour, usually of children, that causes trouble, irritation, etc
  2. a playful inclination to behave in this way or to tease or disturb
  3. injury or harm caused by a person or thing
  4. a person, esp a child, who is mischievous
  5. a source of trouble, difficulty, etcfloods are a great mischief to the farmer

Word Origin for mischief

C13: from Old French meschief disaster, from meschever to meet with calamity; from mes- mis- 1 + chever to reach an end, from chef end, chief
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mischief
n.

c.1300, "evil condition, misfortune, need, want," from Old French meschief "misfortune, harm, trouble; annoyance, vexation" (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes- "badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from Vulgar Latin *capare "head," from Latin caput "head" (see capitulum). Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from late 15c. Sense of "playful malice" first recorded 1784.

Mischief Night in 19c. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire; but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. The useful Middle English verb mischieve (early 14c.) has, for some reason, fallen from currency.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with mischief

mischief

see make mischief.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.