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.
Now, a 27-year-old teacher in the central city of Bhopal has started a petition asking the police to deploy officers at marriage venues and conduct raids to put an end to this "social evil".
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
We may imitate the kindliness of the ancient times, but we cannot disguise the fact that pauperism is regarded not only as a great social evil, but as an offence against our laws.
From My Unknown Chum by Charles Bullard Fairbanks
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.
