sinister

sinister
sinisterly, adv.sinisterness, n.
/sin"euh steuhr/, adj.
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).
[1375-1425; late ME < L: on the left hand or side, hence unfavorable, injurious]
Syn. 1. inauspicious, portentous. 3. unlucky.
Ant. 1. benign. 3. favorable.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Sinister — is originally a Latin term for left or to the left (and by extension, left handedness), and is used in heraldry to refer to the left of the bearer of the arms, and to the right by the viewer s eyes. It is often used to mean evil.Sinister may also …   Wikipedia

  • sinister — sinister,[/p] baleful, malign, malefic, maleficent all mean seriously threatening, portending, or promising evil or disaster, usually imminent or already initiated evil or disaster. Sinister is the most commonly employed of these words and the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sinister — Жанр дэт метал Страна …   Википедия

  • sinister — [sin′is tər] adj. [ME sinistre < L sinister, left hand, or unlucky (side), orig. lucky (side) < IE base * sene , to prepare, achieve > Sans sánīyān, more favorable: early Roman augurs faced south, with the east (lucky side) to the left,… …   English World dictionary

  • sinister — early 15c., 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 root *sen and meaning properly the slower or weaker hand [Tucker], but… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Sinister — Allgemeine Informatione …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sinister — (lat.), 1) link; Sinistrae tibiae, s.u. Flöte; 2) linkisch, verkehrt; 3) ungünstig, unglücklich; dagegen in den Auspicien der Römer glücklich, von guter Vorbedeutung …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Sinister — (lat.), link, linkisch; bei Vorzeichen in der Religionssprache der Römer ursprünglich glückverheißend, später nach griechischer Theorie unheilverkündend …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • sinister — I adjective alarming, baleful, baneful, blameworthy, censurable, cold blooded, comminatory, conscienceless, contemptible, corrupt, creepy, cruel, culpable, dangerous, demoniac, demoniacal, deserving of condemnation, designing, despiteful,… …   Law dictionary

  • sinister — [adj] nasty, menacing adverse, apocalyptic, bad, baleful, baneful, blackhearted, corrupt, deleterious, dire, disastrous, dishonest, disquieting, doomful, evil, foreboding, harmful, hurtful, ill boding, inauspicious, injurious, lowering, malefic,… …   New thesaurus

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