sinister
sinister is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 13 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.Unlucky; inauspicious; disastrous; injurious; evil; -- the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side; as, sinister influences. All the several ills that visit earth, Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth. B. Jonson.
- 2.Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest; corrupt; as, sinister aims. Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts. Bacon. He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts. South. He read in their looks . . . sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself. Sir W. Scott.
- 3.Indicative of lurking evil or harm; boding covert danger; as, a sinister countenance. Bar sinister. (Her.) See under Bar, n. -- Sinister aspect (Astrol.), an appearance of two planets happening according to the succession of the signs, as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini. -- Sinister base, Sinister chief. See under Escutcheon.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- gauche
- hand
- larboard
- left
- left-handed
- port
- sinistral
- sinistrality
- sinistrally
- sinistrorsal
- sinistrorse
- sinistrous
- sinistrously
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/sinister
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