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

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

"Hilary Mantel, from what I've heard about her, was mischievous and she knew what she was doing and she was being provocative," Wood says.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

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

It bursts with insights that mix journalistic acumen with gossip, backed by a score generously seasoned with mischievous violin string plucking.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026

"We can be naughty, we can be mischievous, we can be cheeky, we can have fun, we can have great banter too," he says.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

In the later poets he was her son and almost invariably a mischievous, naughty boy, or worse.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

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