Sinister

/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stə/ · adjective

Meaning

Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate..

Definitions by Sense

1. Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
2. Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
3. (archaic) Of the left side.
4. (obsolete) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.

Example Sentences

bar sinister

All the several ills that visit earth / Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.

And in the meanwhile, Society shivered a little feverishly, filled now with the scions of those who had come over with the Jewish and American Conquests. Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them.

sinister influences

the sinister atmosphere of the crypt

my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers:

His ſicatrice, with an Embleme of warre, heere on his ſiniſter cheeke;

Before the train had stopped he had decorated his sinister shirt-cuff with the inscription, ‘J. P. Huddle, The Warren, Tilfield, near Slowborough.’

Synonyms for sinister

Antonyms for sinister

Related Words

Word Forms

• more sinister
• most sinister
• sinistre

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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