social evil
Americannoun
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anything detrimental to a society or its citizens, as alcoholism, organized crime, etc.
Etymology
Origin of social evil
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
"He agreed that it was a social evil," she told me, adding that it made her think that he was different from the others she had met so far.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2023
“These child marriages have become a social evil and as a result the mortality rates have been quite high,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
It’s the lack of acknowledgment that is the root of so much social evil.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2019
There are clip-clop ole West numbers, solemn hymns of uplift and lamentation and sardonic Brechtian ditties of social evil.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2017
Last week they had been treated to a shocking tale of reformatories, but this was the first time they had been drawn into the social evil.
From The Shadow by Mary White Ovington
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.
