sinister
Americanadjective
-
threatening or portending evil, harm, or trouble; ominous.
a sinister remark.
- Synonyms:
- portentous, inauspicious
- Antonyms:
- benign
-
bad, evil, base, or wicked; fell.
his sinister purposes.
-
unfortunate; disastrous; unfavorable.
a sinister accident.
- Synonyms:
- unlucky
- Antonyms:
- favorable
-
of or on the left side; left.
-
Heraldry. noting the side of an escutcheon or achievement of arms that is to the left of the bearer (dexter ).
adjective
-
threatening or suggesting evil or harm; ominous
a sinister glance
-
evil or treacherous, esp in a mysterious way
-
(usually postpositive) heraldry of, on, or starting from the left side from the bearer's point of view and therefore on the spectator's right
-
archaic located on the left side
-
archaic (of signs, omens, etc) unfavourable
Other Word Forms
- sinisterly adverb
- sinisterness noun
- unsinister adjective
- unsinisterly adverb
- unsinisterness noun
Etymology
Origin of sinister
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin: “on the left hand or side,” hence, “unfavorable, injurious”
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.
Justice Samuel Alito has objected strongly to that term, calling it unfairly “sinister.”
In movies about stuff like this, there’s often a sinister air around the memory-tweaking scientist character.
From Los Angeles Times
There, Erikson teased out the stealthy, almost sinister peculiarities of modern man-made hazards, like radioactivity and toxicity, and their special, traumatic effects.
A completely sinister, bleakly hilarious bit of soundtrack work that the Veronicas must have found absolutely delicious.
From Los Angeles Times
His version of the number, expertly balancing camp with sincerity, was a complete delight — and utterly devoid of sinister subtext.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
