social evil

American  

noun

1. anything detrimental to a society or its citizens, as alcoholism, organized crime, etc.

2. prostitution.

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Etymology

Origin of social evil

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

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

“In the burning of Judas, social evil becomes laughable.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2023

In the new book, Cosby weaves another social evil, homophobia, into his speeding narrative.

From Washington Post • Jul. 2, 2021

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

Concerning presentation of the social evil by fiction and the drama, there is much honest disagreement.

From Sex-education A series of lectures concerning knowledge of sex in its relation to human life by Bigelow, Maurice Alpheus