Dictionary

sinister en · ADJ

Pronunciation

(Australia) audio
/ˈsə.nə.stə/ (New-Zealand)
/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/ (General-American)
sĭ-nĭ′stər (South-Asia, poetic)
sĭn′ĭ-stər
/sɪˈnɪ.sʈə(ɾ)/ (South-Asia)
(US) audio
/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stə/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *senh₂- Proto-Indo-European *senh₂-is-? Proto-Italic *senisteros Latin sinister Late Latin sinextrum Old French senestrebor. Middle English sinistre English sinister From Middle English sinistre (“unlucky”), from Old French senestre, sinistre (“left”), from Latin sinister (“left hand”).

Meanings

Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- All the several ills that visit earth / Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth. 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- And in the meanwhile, Society shivered a little feverishly, filled now with the scions of those who had come over with the Jewish and American Conquests. Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them. 1922, Michael Arlen, “1/5/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
- bar sinister
Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
- the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
- sinister influences
(archaic) Of the left side.
- Before the train had stopped he had decorated his sinister shirt-cuff with the inscription, ‘J. P. Huddle, The Warren, Tilfield, near Slowborough.’ 1911, Saki, ‘The Unrest-Cure’, The Chronicles of Clovis:
- my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers: c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], column 2:
- His ſicatrice, with an Embleme of warre, heere on his ſiniſter cheeke; c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 235:
(archaic) Of the left side. ▸ On the left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.
- The shield was divided into five, with two coats of arms on the dexter side (the right-hand side from the point of view of the bearer of the shield)—London and Southampton—and three on the sinister side—Salisbury, Winchester and Portsmouth. 1956 July 14, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, page 477:
(obsolete) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.
- He read in their looks […] sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself. 1822, [Walter Scott], The Pirate. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
- He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts. 1667, Robert South, The Practice of Religion Enforced by Reason:
- Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts. 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Judicature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
more sinister	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic
most sinister	Degree=Sup		lexicographic
sinistre		alternative, obsolete	lexicographic

Translations (64)

ro sinistru (evil) · ar شَرِير (evil) · pdt dreiwent (ominous) · da sinister (heraldry: on the left) · ms jahat (evil) · he מרושע (evil) · eo minaca (ominous) · de linksseitig (on the left) · cs hrozivý (evil) · fi paha (evil) · de böse (evil) · de links (on the left) · pt esquerdo (on the left) · es izquierdo (heraldry: on the left) · es siniestro (heraldry: on the left) · ru злополу́чный (ominous) · mk зол (evil) · ca sinistre (ominous) · pl złowrogi (evil) · ja 悪い (evil) · pt sestro (on the left) · cs zlý (evil) · es siniestro (on the left) · fi uhkaava (ominous) · pl arcygroźny (evil) · fi vasen (heraldry: on the left) · de sinister (ominous) · bg злокобен (ominous) · de sinister (evil) · grc ἀπαίσιος (ominous) · fa گجسته (ominous) · ja 奸な (evil) · he רשע (evil) · pt sinistro (ominous) · fi pahaenteinen (ominous) · de linker (heraldry: on the left) · it sinistro (evil) · fr sénestre (heraldry: on the left) · pt sinistro (evil) · it sinistra (on the left) · kk залым (evil) · mk зло́кобен (ominous) · de sinister (on the left) · sv sinister (heraldry: on the left) · ru злой (evil) · bg зъл (evil) · mk зло́бен (evil) · pl złowrogi (ominous) · sq I Mbrapsht (ominous) · fr sinistre (evil) · es siniestro (evil) · ja 左前の (ominous) · bg ляв (heraldry: on the left) · fr sinistre (ominous) · da heraldisk venstre (heraldry: on the left) · cs zlověstný (ominous) · pl złowieszczy (ominous) · it sinistra (heraldry: on the left) · ru злове́щий (ominous) · pt sinistro (on the left) · fi vasta- (heraldry: on the left) · sv vänster (heraldry: on the left) · bg зловещ (ominous) · pl arcygroźny (ominous)

sinister en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Antonyms

Deriveds

Synonyms

Translations (64)