evil
Usage
What are other ways to say evil?
Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law: evil practices. Ill now appears mainly in certain fixed expressions, with a milder implication than that in evil: ill will; ill-natured. Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong: a wicked plan. Bad is the broadest and simplest term: a bad man; bad habits.
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.
See Examples For:
Her son Luca Dotti once said in an interview: "She believed very much that there is a struggle between good and evil and you have to take sides."
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
“One Man In” is less about why bad men do evil things than why flawed men do heroic things.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Discussing his India trip, the “Primetime” version of Hansen remembers an alleged witness to the kidnappings, who describes the perpetrator as a monstrous ancient evil lurking in the dark.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
For most politicians, calling the 9/11 attacks evil would be unremarkable.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
And then Jack took a good look at the animal and realized it wasn’t a horse at all: It was easily the most evil, horrible monster he’d ever faced.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
One key objection was the mature tone of the narrative, in which the child protagonist is directly confronted and endangered by the evils derived from fascist ideologies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Lafayette discreetly addressed these evils on his tour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
And coming from the field of disinformation in particular, A.I. is a Pandora’s box of yet-to-be-imagined evils.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
A wary Tinseltown reluctantly lined up behind Netflix as the lesser of two evils, only to watch Paramount keep raising its bid until the streamer walked away.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The second was Archbishop Des-mond Tutu, who selflessly fought the evils of racism during the most terrible days of apartheid.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Vocabulary lists containing evil
Bush's Address on 9/11
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"Frankenstein" and "How Frankenstein Began"
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"The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury
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