sinister - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: sinister

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sin·is·ter

Audio Help [sin-uh-ster] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	threatening or portending evil, harm, or trouble; ominous: a sinister remark.

2.	bad, evil, base, or wicked; fell: his sinister purposes.

3.	unfortunate; disastrous; unfavorable: a sinister accident.

4.	of or on the left side; left.

5.	Heraldry. noting the side of an escutcheon or achievement of arms that is to the left of the bearer (opposed to dexter).

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L: on the left hand or side, hence unfavorable, injurious

]

—Related forms

sin·is·ter·ly, adverb

sin·is·ter·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. inauspicious, portentous. 3. unlucky.

—Antonyms 1. benign. 3. favorable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sinister

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sin·is·ter Audio Help (sĭn'ĭ-stər) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Suggesting or threatening evil: a sinister smile.
Presaging trouble; ominous: sinister storm clouds.
Attended by or causing disaster or inauspicious circumstances.
On the left side; left.
Heraldry Situated on or being the side of a shield on the wearer's left and the observer's right.

[Middle English sinistre, unfavorable, from Old French, from Latin sinister, on the left, unlucky.]

sin'is·ter·ly adv., sin'is·ter·ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives apply to what is indicative of or threatens great harm, disaster, or evil. Sinister usually implies impending or lurking danger that makes its presence felt by ominous signs or portents: We heard a sinister laugh from behind the door.
Baleful intensifies the sense of menace; it suggests a deadly, virulent, or poisonous quality: The guard's baleful glare frightened the children.
Malign applies to what manifests an evil disposition, nature, influence, or intent: "The Devil . . . with jealous leer malign/Eyed them askance" (John Milton).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sinister

1411, "prompted by malice or ill-will," from O.Fr. sinistre "contrary, unfavorable, to the left," from L. sinister "left, on the left side" (opposite of dexter), perhaps from base *sen- and meaning prop. "the slower or weaker hand" [Tucker], but Buck suggests it's a euphemism (see left), connected with the root of Skt. saniyan "more useful, more advantageous." The L. word was used in augury in the sense of "unlucky, unfavorable" (omens, especially bird flights, seen on the left hand were regarded as portending misfortune), and thus sinister acquired a sense of "harmful, unfavorable, adverse." This was from Gk. influence, reflecting the early Gk. practice of facing north when observing omens; in genuine Roman auspices, the left was favorable. Bend (not "bar") sinister in heraldry indicates illegitimacy and preserves the lit. sense of "on the left side."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sinister
adjective
1.	threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly" [syn: baleful]
2.	stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable; "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy [syn: black]
3.	on or starting from the wearer's left; "bar sinister"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sinister [ˈsinistə] adjective

suggesting, or warning of, evil
Example: sinister happenings; His disappearance is extremely sinister.

Arabic:	مَنْحوس، مَشْؤوم
Chinese (Simplified):	不吉祥的, 险恶的
Chinese (Traditional):	不吉祥的, 險惡的
Czech:	zlověstný
Danish:	truende
Dutch:	onheilspellend
Estonian:	pahaendeline
Finnish:	pahaenteinen
French:	sinistre
German:	unheilvoll
Greek:	δυσοίωνος, απειλητικός
Hungarian:	baljós(latú)
Icelandic:	skuggalegur
Indonesian:	berfirasat buruk
Italian:	sinistro

Japanese:	不吉な
Korean:	불길한, 상서롭지 못한
Latvian:	ļauns
Lithuanian:	kraupus
Norwegian:	skummel, illevarslende
Polish:	złowieszczy
Portuguese (Brazil):	sinistro
Portuguese (Portugal):	sinistro
Romanian:	sinistru
Russian:	зловещий
Slovak:	zlovestný
Slovenian:	zlovešč
Spanish:	siniestro
Swedish:	olycksbådande, ödesdiger
Turkish:	uğursuz, hayra alâmet olmayan

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sinister

Sin"is*ter\ (s[i^]n"[i^]s*t[~e]r; 277), a.

Note: [Accented on the middle syllable by the older poets, as Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden.] [L. sinister: cf. F. sinistre.]

1. On the left hand, or the side of the left hand; left; -- opposed to dexter, or right. "Here on his sinister cheek." --Shak.

My mother's blood Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister Bounds in my father's --Shak.

Note: In heraldy the sinister side of an escutcheon is the side which would be on the left of the bearer of the shield, and opposite the right hand of the beholder.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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