mischievous
Americanadjective
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maliciously or playfully annoying.
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causing annoyance, harm, or trouble.
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roguishly or slyly teasing, as a glance.
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harmful or injurious.
adjective
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inclined to acts of mischief
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teasing; slightly malicious
a mischievous grin
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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
- 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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When McKellen does emerge, wearing a blue zip-up hoodie and black sweatpants, he has a mischievous look in his eye.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
The mischievous thieving monkey Ukiki is once again trying to make off with the belongings of a passerby when he is stopped by another traveler: Princess Daisy.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
"He was cheeky, mischievous and loving, and he'd do anything for anyone," she said.
From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026
Witty and mischievous, a punster and provocateur, Man Ray excelled as a photographer, filmmaker and object-maker.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
In my books I had read that as a child, Krishna was very mischievous.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
