sinister

adj
/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stə/UK/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/US/ˈsə.nə.stə/

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”).

  1. derived from sinister — “left hand
  2. derived from senestre
  3. inherited from sinistre — “unlucky

Definitions

  1. Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.

    • bar sinister
    • All the several ills that visit earth / Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.
  2. Evil or seemingly evil

    Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.

    • sinister influences
    • the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
  3. Of the left side.

    • my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers:
    • His ſicatrice, with an Embleme of warre, heere on his ſiniſter cheeke;
    • Before the train had stopped he had decorated his sinister shirt-cuff with the inscription, ‘J. P. Huddle, The Warren, Tilfield, near Slowborough.’
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity

      Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.

      • Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts.
      • He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts.
      • He read in their looks […] sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at sinister. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01sinister02ominous03ill04wicked05severe06austere07grim

A definitional loop anchored at sinister. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at sinister

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA