Definitions for sinister
ˈsɪn ə stərsin·is·ter

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threateningadjective

   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"

2. black, dark, sinisteradjective

   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

3. sinisteradjective

   on or starting from the wearer's left

   "bar sinister"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.8 / 4 votes

1. sinisteradjective

   Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky.

2. sinisteradjective

   Evil, seeming to be evil.

3. sinisteradjective

   Of the left side.

4. sinisteradjective

   The left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.

5. Etymology: From sinistre, from sinistra, from sinestra.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Sinisteradjective

   Etymology: sinister, Latin.

   1. Being on the left hand; left; not right; not dexter.

   My mother’s blood
   Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister
   Bounds in my sire’s. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.

   Captain Spurio, with his cicatrice, an emblem of war, here on his sinister cheek. William Shakespeare, All’s well that ends well.

   But a rib, crooked by nature, bent, as now appears,
   More to the part sinister from me drawn. John Milton, Pa. Lost.

   The spleen is unjustly introduced to invigorate the sinister side, which, being dilated, would rather infirm and debilitate it. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours.

   In his sinister hand, instead of ball,
   He plac’d a mighty mug of potent ale. Dryden.

   2. Bad; perverse; corrupt; deviating from honesty; unfair.

   Is it so strange a matter to find a good thing furthered by ill men of a sinister intent and purpose, whose forwardness is not therefore a bridle to such as favour the same cause with a better and sincere meaning. Richard Hooker.

   The duke of Clarence was soon after by sinister means made clean away. Edmund Spenser, on Ireland.

   When are there more unworthy men chosen to offices, when is there more strife and contention about elections, or when do partial and sinister affections more utter themselves, than when an election is committed to many? John Whitgift.

   He professes to have received no sinister measure from his judge, but most willingly humbles himself to the determination of justice. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.

   Those may be accounted the left hands of courts; persons that are full of nimble and sinister tricks and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain courses of courts, and bring justice into oblique lines and labyrinths. Francis Bacon, Essays.

   The just person has given the world an assurance, by the constant tenor of his practice, that he makes a conscience of his ways, and that he scorns to undermine another’s interest by any sinister or inferior arts. South.

   3. [ Sinistre, French.]Unlucky; inauspicious.

   Tempt it again: that is thy act, or none:
   What all the several ills that visit earth,
   Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth,
   Plagues, famine, fire, could not reach unto,
   The sword, nor surfeits, let thy fury do. Ben Jonson.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sinister

   Sinister is an adjective that describes anything or anyone appearing evil, menacing, harmful, or suggestive of threat. It is generally associated with a sense of wrongdoing, ill will, or malicious intent. It can also refer to anything on the left side, as per its original Latin meaning, but this usage is less common. It can be used to describe actions, behavior, appearance, situations or objects.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Sinisteradjective

   on the left hand, or the side of the left hand; left; -- opposed to dexter, or right

2. Sinisteradjective

   unlucky; inauspicious; disastrous; injurious; evil; -- the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side; as, sinister influences

3. Sinisteradjective

   wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest; corrupt; as, sinister aims

4. Sinisteradjective

   indicative of lurking evil or harm; boding covert danger; as, a sinister countenance

5. Etymology: [L. sinister: cf. F. sinistre.]

WikidataRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. Sinister

   Sinister is a death metal band from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, assembled in 1988, disassembled in 2003, and reassembled in 2005. They have released ten albums, most recently The Carnage Ending in 2012.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Sinister

   sin′is-tėr, adj. left: on the left hand: evil: unfair: dishonest: unlucky: inauspicious, malign.—adj. Sin′ister-hand′ed, left-handed.—advs. Sin′isterly; Sinis′tra (mus.), with the left hand; Sin′istrad, towards the left.—adj. Sin′istral, belonging or inclining to the left: reversed.—n. Sinistral′ity.—adv. Sin′istrally.—n. Sinistrā′tion, a turning to the left.—adj. Sin′istrous, on the left side: wrong: absurd: perverse.—adv. Sin′istrously. [L.]

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sinister

   In heraldry, the left-hand side of a shield. As shields are supposed to be carried in front of the person, the sinister side is that which covers the bearer’s left side, and therefore, lies to the spectator’s right. See Points of the Escutcheon.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sinister

   Song lyrics by sinister -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by sinister on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Heraldry

Anagrams for sinister »

1. resistin

2. insister

3. reinsist

4. sisterin

How to pronounce sinister?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say sinister in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of sinister in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of sinister in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of sinister in a Sentence

1. Judy Norton:

   And then she starts experiencing concerning and disturbing phenomenon in her world… And she doesn’t know if she’s literally going crazy because her mother has, or if someone is stalking or manipulating her for some unknown, sinister reason… There was a lot of acting and emotional demands to it. And she’s also different from other characters I typically played. But I wanted that challenge to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone. i guess at my core, I’m an artist.

2. Duncan Levin:

   The fact that she and he would exchange so much money indicates that they had a very close business relationship and that he clearly trusted her with a phenomenal amount of money, there may be a completely innocent explanation for it, but it definitely is a sinister data point.

3. Mohammed VI:

   I know there are old demons which are coming back to the surface. They are ready to wreak chaos and death, history sometimes threatens to take its sinister course once again.

4. Audrey Strauss:

   She was far more sinister than just a bit odd.

5. Jeff Dennis:

   It would be very hard, as a user, to see through some sort of phishing campaign when they're using information that you thought was very private to you, such as information that would be found on Facebook in your bio section, particularly, when you combine it with location information, you can see how bad guys would start to use this information in a very sinister but effective way.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=sinister
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sinister
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=sinister
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sinister
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=sinister
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=sinister
8. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html