evil eye
/ˌiːvl̩‿ˈaɪ/US/ˌiv(ə)l̩‿ˈaɪ/
evil eye noun: a wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
Noun
evil eye (plural evil eyes)
- A wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
- an amulet to protect children from the evil eye.
- Each of the young men, in saluting the new-comer, made mechanically, and with care to conceal it from him, a slight gesture or sign with their fingers; for Arbaces, the Egyptian, was supposed to possess the fatal gift of the evil eye.1834, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Blind Flower-girl, and the Beauty of Fashion.—The Athenian’s Confession.—The Reader’s Introduction to Arbaces of Egypt.”, in The Last Days of Pompeii. […], volume...
- The charm used to ward off the evil eye; a nazar.
- Isma laughed, but Hira drew her shoulders in tighter, reached out to touch the evil eye that hung on her wall and which Isma had always assumed to be merely decorative.2017, Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire, Bloomsbury (2018), page 11
- A look conveying disapproval, envy, hostility, etc.
- Near-synonym: side-eye
- For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed euill thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, / Thefts, couetouſneſſe, wickedneſſe, deceit, laſciuiouſneſſe, an euill eye, blaſphemie, pride, fooliſhneſſe: / All theſe euill things come from within, and defile the man.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 7:21–23, column 1
evil eye meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
evil eye in Hindi
- wicked look conveying dislike or envy believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look
- दृष्टि दोष dŕṣṭi doṣ, नज़र nazar, नज़र लगना nazar lagnā
evil eye in Tamil
- wicked look conveying dislike or envy believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look
- திருஷ்டி tiruṣṭi, கண்ணூறு kaṇṇūṟu, கண்ணேறு kaṇṇēṟu
evil eye in Marathi
- evil eye
- नजर naj̈ar
evil eye in Urdu
- wicked look conveying dislike or envy believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look
- نظر nazar, چشمِ بد chashm-é-bad, نظرِبد nazar-é-bad
More languagesFewer languages
- evil eye in Bengali
- দৃষ্টি driśṭi, নজর nojor
- evil eye in Telugu
- దిష్టి diṣṭi, దృష్టి dr̥ṣṭi
- evil eye in Malayalam
- ദൃഷ്ടിദോഷം dr̥ṣṭidōṣaṁ, കണ്ണേറ് kaṇṇēṟŭ, നാവേറ് nāvēṟŭ
- evil eye in Kannada
- ಕಣ್ಣೆಂಜಲ್, ಕಣ್ಣೆಂಜಲ, ಕಣ್ಣೆಂಜಲು
- evil eye in Punjabi
- ਨਜ਼ਰ nazar
- evil eye in Gujarati
- દૃષ્ટિ dŕṣṭi, નજર najar
- evil eye in Odia
- ଦୃଷ୍ଟି druṣṭi, ନଜର najara
- evil eye in Sanskrit
- दृष्टि दोष dṛṣṭi doṣa, दृष्टिदोष dṛṣṭidoṣa
- evil eye in Sinhala
- ඇස්වහ æswaha
- evil eye in Tagalog
- balis, ohiya, usog
- evil eye in Arabic
- عَيْن اَلْحَسُود ʕayn al-ḥasūd, عين حارّة ʿayn ḥārrah
- evil eye in Malay
- mata jahat
- evil eye in Indonesian
- dengki
- evil eye in Persian
- چشم زخم čašm zaxm, نظر nazar, چشم شور
- evil eye in Thai
- นัยน์ตาปีศาจ nai dtaa bpeesàat
Examples of evil eye in a sentence
- The ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος, or evil eye, is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. […] Various amulets were used to avert the influence of the evil eye.1842, Charles Anthon, “FA′SCINUM”, in William Smith, editor, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities […], 3rd American edition, New...
- A common dread was the evil eye, and the chief charm against it was in the form of a knotted cord woven by a "wise woman".1936, Rollo Ahmed, “The Ancient Magic of the East”, in The Black Art, London: Senate, Studio Editions, published 1994, →ISBN, page 26:
- If you tell me, "Good morning" / I'm gonna tell you, "That's a lie" / If you say I'm old, baby / I'm gonna give you the evil eye1964 February 18, Lionel Hampton, Leonard Feather, “Evil Gal Blues”, in Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington, performed by Aretha...
Synonyms of evil eye
Forms of evil eye
| plural | evil eyes |
|---|
Origin of evil eye
From Middle English ivel eie (“evil eye; envy”), from Old English eage yfel, a calque of Latin oculus malus, from oculus (“eye”) + malus (“bad, evil, wicked; destructive, hurtful, injurious; unfavourable, unlucky”).
Words formed from evil eye
Words that rhyme with evil eye
Questions about evil eye
- What does evil eye mean?
- Evil eye means a wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
- What is evil eye in Hindi?
- Evil eye in Hindi is दृष्टि दोष (dŕṣṭi doṣ), नज़र (nazar), नज़र लगना (nazar lagnā). See Evil eye meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use evil eye in a sentence?
- The ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος, or evil eye, is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. […] Various amulets were used to avert the influence of the evil eye.
- What part of speech is evil eye?
- Evil eye is a noun.
- How do you pronounce evil eye?
- Evil eye is pronounced /ˌiːvl̩‿ˈaɪ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of evil eye?
- The plural of evil eye is evil eyes.
Words near evil eye in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: evil eye (page history and authors); नजर (Marathi) (page history and authors); evil eye (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-evil eye.wav.
Cite this entry: “evil eye.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/evil_eye. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.