different between evil vs obscene
evil
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: ?-v?l, ?-v?l, IPA(key): /?i?v?l/, /?i?v?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?iv?l/
- Hyphenation: evil
- Rhymes: -i?v?l
Etymology 1
From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (compare Saterland Frisian eeuwel, Dutch euvel, Low German övel, German übel), from Proto-Indo-European *h?upélos (compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *u?elos), diminutive of *h?wep(h?)-, *h?wap- (“treat badly”) (compare Hittite ???????????????? (huwapp-i, “to mistreat, harass”), ???????????????????? (huwappa-, “evil, badness”)), or alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h?ewp- (“down, up, over”).
Adjective
evil (comparative eviller or eviler or more evil, superlative evillest or evilest or most evil)
- Intending to harm; malevolent.
- 1866, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, Chapter 47,[1]
- For a good while the Miss Brownings were kept in ignorance of the evil tongues that whispered hard words about Molly.
- 1916, Zane Grey, The Border Legion, New York: Harper & Bros., Chapter 10, p. 147,[2]
- He looked at her shapely person with something of the brazen and evil glance that had been so revolting to her in the eyes of those ruffians.
- 2006, Ng?g? wa Thiong'o, Wizard of the Crow, New York: Pantheon, Book Three, Section II, Chapter 3, p. 351,[3]
- “Before this, I never had any cause to suspect my wife of any conspiracy.”
- “You mean it never crossed your mind that she might have been told to whisper evil thoughts in your ear at night?”
- 1866, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, Chapter 47,[1]
- Morally corrupt.
- c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene 3,[4]
- Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,
- When death’s approach is seen so terrible.
- 1848, Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Chapter 41,[5]
- I had much trouble at first in breaking him of those evil habits his father had taught him to acquire […]
- 1967, Chaim Potok, The Chosen, New York: Fawcett Columbine, 2003, Chapter 1, p. 14,[6]
- To the rabbis who taught in the Jewish parochial schools, baseball was an evil waste of time […]
- c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene 3,[4]
- Unpleasant, foul (of odour, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
- 1660, John Harding (translator), Paracelsus his Archidoxis, London: W.S., Book 7, “Of an Odoriferous Specifick,” p. 100,[7]
- An Odoriferous Specifick […] is a Matter that takes away Diseases from the Sick, no otherwise then as Civet drives away the stinck of Ordure by its Odour; for you are to observe, That the Specifick doth permix it self with this evil Odour of the Dung; and the stink of the Dung cannot hurt, no[r] abide there […]
- 1897, H. G. Wells, The Invisible Man, Chapter 18,[8]
- He awoke in an evil temper […]
- 1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, London: Macmillan, Part V, “Mazar-i-Sherif,” p. 282,[9]
- It was an evil day, sticky and leaden: Oxiana looked as colourless and suburban as India.
- 1958, Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana, Penguin, 1979, Part Four, Chapter 1, p. 125,[10]
- He herded them into a small and evil toilet and then through a window.
- 1993, Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries, Toronto: Random House of Canada, Chapter One, p. 39,[11]
- Everyone in the tiny, crowded, hot, and evil-smelling kitchen […] has been invited to participate in a moment of history.
- 1660, John Harding (translator), Paracelsus his Archidoxis, London: W.S., Book 7, “Of an Odoriferous Specifick,” p. 100,[7]
- Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
- c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act V, Scene 6,[12]
- The owl shrieked at thy birth,—an evil sign;
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 22.19,[13]
- […] he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel:
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes in Paradise Regain’d, to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, p. 89, lines 438-439,[14]
- A little stay will bring some notice hither,
- For evil news rides post, while good news baits.
- 1931, Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth, New York: Modern Library, 1944, Chapter 15, p. 122,[15]
- “ […] with bandits and robbers roving over the land in these evil times of famine and war, how can it be said that this one or that stole anything? Hunger makes thief of any man.”
- c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act V, Scene 6,[12]
- (obsolete) Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
- an evil beast; an evil plant; an evil crop
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 7.18,[16]
- A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.
- (computing, programming, slang) undesirable; harmful; bad practice
- Global variables are evil; storing processing context in object member variables allows those objects to be reused in a much more flexible way.
Synonyms
- nefarious
- malicious
- malevolent
- wicked
- See also Thesaurus:evil
Antonyms
- good
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
evil (countable and uncountable, plural evils)
- Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
- The heart of the sons of men is full of evil.
- Something which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; something which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; harm; injury; mischief.
- (obsolete) A malady or disease; especially in combination, as in king's evil, colt evil.
- He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil.
Antonyms
- good
Derived terms
Translations
References
Etymology 2
From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel (“evilly”), from Old English yfele, yfle (“evilly”), a derivative of the noun yfel (“evil”). Often reinterpreted as the noun in the later language (as in "to speak evil").
Adverb
evil (comparative more evil, superlative most evil)
- (obsolete) wickedly, evilly, iniquitously
- (obsolete) injuriously, harmfully; in a damaging way.
- (obsolete) badly, poorly; in an insufficient way.
- It went evil with him.
Usage notes
This adverb was usually used in conjunction with speak.
References
- James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928) , “Evil, adv.”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume III (D–E), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 350, column 2.
Anagrams
- Levi, Viel, live, veil, vile, vlei
Middle English
Etymology 1
Adjective
evil
- Alternative form of yvel (“evil”)
Etymology 2
Adverb
evil
- Alternative form of yvel (“evilly”)
evil From the web:
- what evil lurks within
- what evil means
- what evil lurks dauntless
- what evil lurks i must destroy
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obscene
English
Etymology
From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obsc?nus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?weyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh?iwo-).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?b?si?n/
- (General American) enPR: ?b-s?n?, IPA(key): /?b?sin/
- Rhymes: -i?n
- Hyphenation: ob?scene
Adjective
obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene) (see usage notes)
- Offensive to current standards of decency or morality.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene
- Antonyms: decent, moral, nonobscene
- Lewd or lustful.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene
- Antonyms: chaste, nonobscene, pure
- Disgusting or repulsive.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene
- Antonym: nonobscene
- (by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excessive
- Antonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate
- (chiefly Britain, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene
- Antonyms: decent, nonobscene
Usage notes
- The comparative form obscener and superlative form obscenest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscene and most obscene.
- In criminal law, many jurisdictions distinguish between the terms obscene, indecent, and profane when regulating broadcasted content, with obscene typically being the most severe of the three categories.
Alternative forms
- obscæne (obsolete)
Derived terms
- nonobscene
- obscenely
- obsceneness (rare)
- obscenometer (humorous, obsolete)
Related terms
- obscenity
- obscenous (obsolete)
- obscenousness (obsolete)
Translations
References
Further reading
- obscenity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Latin
Adjective
obsc?ne
- vocative masculine singular of obsc?nus
References
- obscene in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- obscene in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- obscene in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
Romanian
Adjective
obscene f pl
- feminine plural of obscen
obscene From the web:
- what obscene gestures mean
- what obscene means
- what's obscene phone calls
- what obscene material means
- what's obscene in spanish
- obscene what does it means
- what is obscene language
- what is obscene material
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