nefarious
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nefarious
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin nefārius “wicked, vile,” equivalent to nefās “offense against divine or moral law” (from ne-, negative prefix + fās “law, right”) + -ius -ious
Explanation
Describe a person's actions as nefarious if they are evil or wicked. Batman and Superman are always fighting evildoers and stopping their nefarious plots. Nefarious comes from the Latin nefas "crime, impiety." If something is nefarious, it is criminal, evil, malicious and wicked. Thinking of superheroes can help you remember the meaning of the word, but it is often used in much less exciting circumstances. News reporters investigate corrupt politicians in order to uncover the nefarious activities. And, if you don't pay for your downloaded music, you have gotten it by nefarious means.
Vocabulary lists containing nefarious
Grade 9, List 4
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Coraline
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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.
Then there’s the more nefarious activities – I’ve heard of researchers deliberately moving specimens to make them hard to find so other researchers cannot examine them, and occasionally things are stolen from collections.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
From burglar to saboteur, artificial-intelligence agents have taken on nefarious roles in recent so-called loss-of-control episodes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"Instead, we've left a void, one which has been filled with nefarious online actors peddling their own narratives surrounding what a successful manhood looks like."
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
He stars alongside Ben Kingsley, whose pompous thespian Trevor Slattery befriends Simon while secretly working with the nefarious Department of Damage Control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
What she had made was called a grappling hook, which is something used for climbing up the sides of buildings, usually for a nefarious purpose.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
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.
