Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use sinister in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective

Sinister means inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate. Example: “Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them.”

Examples of sinister by meaning

adjectiveInauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.

  • 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

adjectiveEvil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.

  • the sinister atmosphere of the crypt

adjectiveOf the left side.

  • Before the train had stopped he had decorated his sinister shirt-cuff with the inscription, ‘J.1911, Saki, ‘The Unrest-Cure’, The Chronicles of Clovis

adjectiveOn 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, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, page 477

More sentences with sinister

  • It was his most dark, insidious and sinister project of all.2026 January 21, David Smith, “Trump paints himself as great white hope in racism-drenched Davos speech”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived…. From the entry fractious
  • She’s my property now,” he continued to Dad and Frank with a sinister smile.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN. From the entry beyond redemption
  • This bar sinister put upon nearly sixty million human beings is a standing demonstration against that claim.2013 Sep. 13, Dr. Yogendra Yadav, "Present Generation and Mahatma Gandhi, Peace and Collaborative Development Network (retrieved 4 April…. From the entry bar sinister
  • But there's something more sinister in the need for companies to bend the knee to Washington politicians.2013, Gary Shapiro, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses, page 117. From the entry bend the knee
  • There was almost a whiff of magic, though nothing sinister, just charmed.2012, Jill Kargman, The Rock Star in Seat 3A, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 176. From the entry Hogwartsian
  • Well, what I believe is the most sinister recurring narratives of the left.2010, Faces of The Weather Underground, Fox News. From the entry global socialism
  • So loan forgiveness programs are not some sinister form of social engineering.2009 May 30, Jonathan D. Glater, “Students Relying on Loans Wonder Whether Forgiveness Will Last”, in New York Times. From the entry overindebtedness
  • The little figures made him think of paramecia, sinister organisms with gullets and feeding grooves.1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld, 2003 edition, →ISBN, page 560. From the entry paramecium
  • He was attractive, in a sinister yet compelling way, but taciturn to the point of monosyllabicity.1996, Joan Collins, Infamous, →ISBN, page 113. From the entry monosyllabicity
  • I refer to the sinister glossaries appended to sixteenth-century accounts of criminals and vagabonds.1988, Stephen Jay Greenblatt, Shakespearean Negotiations. From the entry lorel
  • Perhaps there was somewhere here—certainly there was later—a dark, even sinister side when Dostoevskean “demons” took possession.1983, Encounter, page 18, column 1. From the entry Dostoevskean
  • Gules, a fess azure between 4 hands (mains) sinister aversant or.1979, W. E. Hampton, Memorials of the Wars of the Roses: A Biographical Guide. From the entry aversant
  • "Instead, another dangerous killer now roams our streets, thanks to that scurrilous, sinister super-heel!"1967, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, The Amazing Spider-Man #48. From the entry scurrilous
  • To carry out this sinister plot Moscow sent Maring on a special trip to see Dr.1957, Chiang Chung-cheng (Kai-shek), “"Peaceful Coexistence" between China and Russia”, in Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-up at…. From the entry Kweilin
  • Despite so much blue blood, the bar sinister seared James Smithson all his life.1936 October 26, “Science: Smithsonian's Year”, in Time, retrieved 27 Mar 2014. From the entry bar sinister
  • Despite the girl's assurance, we knew that proximity to the sinister Chinaman must be fraught with danger.1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 24, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. From the entry lion's den
  • Sinister: Three pelicans in their piety, on a chief three stars.1904, William Rae Macdonald, Scottish Armorial Seals, page 276. From the entry in piety
  • In reality, however, these numbers have fueled a far more sinister purpose — creating millions of synthetic identities.2024 October 24, Frank McKenna, “This 9-Digit Scam Sparked A Synthetic Identity Boom In The U.S.”, in Forbes. From the entry CPN
  • But in Uganda, the "drone" has a sinister reputation.2021 March 3, Liam Taylor, “They came in plainclothes with guns: 'Abducted' by Uganda's army”, in Al Jazeera. From the entry drone
  • But the acting eSwatini President of the Economic Freedom Fighters accused the military of having a more sinister purpose.2021 July 6, Gertrude Kitongo, “eSwatini opposition leaders go into hiding as Africa’s last absolute monarchy cracks down”, in CNN. From the entry Eswatini
  • Their purpose couldn’t be clearer or more sinister.2017 April 22, Kevin McKenna, “Scotland a happy place? Don’t make me laugh”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry happy as Larry
  • Runolfr Audsson bears: Per chevron sable and gules, papellony argent, in chief a wolf courant to sinister argent.2014 May 23, Papellony, in Mistholme. From the entry papellony
  • The sinister decorum would make you wet your briefs.2010, Robert Trando, Letters Of A Vietnamese Émigré, page 83. From the entry briefs
  • Reznor’s brooding, sinister songs (which range from thick industrial screamfests to hazy electronic ballads) have (rightly) seduced millions of like-minded fans.2009 June 5, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times. From the entry screamfest
  • Azure, three trout interlaced in triangle: the chiefmost naiant, one urinant in bend, and one haurient in bend sinister, all argent.2006, Encyclopedia Americana: Heart to India. From the entry urinant
  • Sinister Minister . . . kept extending his lead and turned the stretch run into a one-horse race.2006 April 16, Bill Finley, “Sinister Minister Joins Baffert's Derby Stable”, in New York Times, retrieved 26 Jul 2014. From the entry one-horse race
  • To implement sinister strategy — i.e., to presence the acausal (or "the dark forces") via nexions and so change evolution.2001, James R. Lewis, Satanism Today, page 197. From the entry nexion
  • It wrapped its sinister tentacles around all but the bunny.1996 January 22, Randal Keith Milholland, “SG: Gomi #3-"The Death of Johnny Figment" Part III (2/2)”, in bit.listserv.superguy (Usenet). From the entry akuma
  • My skivvies disappeared in surgery, a sinister conjunction of circumstance.1993, William S. Burroughs, edited by Oliver Harris, The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945–1959, New York: Penguin, →ISBN, page 149. From the entry skivvies
  • He is alternately sinister and coy, megalomaniacal and vulnerable.1992 February 2, S.H. Chua, “Cars, Guns and Go-Go Chicks”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 7. From the entry megalomaniacal
  • Sinister : Gules a fess bretessée Argent.1956, The Bibliotheck. From the entry bretessée
  • He was in that sinister house in Soho.1922, Agatha Christie, “Chapter 16”, in The Secret Adversary. From the entry reconnoitre
  • In Flanders the donor was usually sinister, as in the Martin Nieuwenhove diptych, the Fogg diptych, and Mr.1915, Frank Jewett Mather, Three Early Flemish Tomb Pictures, Frederic Fairchild Sherman, page 268. From the entry donatress
  • His youth, his good looks, his charm made the sinister savagery hinted in the smile the more disconcerting.a. 1911, David Graham Phillips, Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise. From the entry seltzer
  • He should be taken to stand for impurity as well as luxurity, the sinister twins of the day.1911, Edw[ard] W[inslow] Gilliam, The Foundling, J. P. Bell Company, page 69. From the entry luxurity
  • A ‘bend sinister’ ran athwart his reputation as a priest.1904, Warwick Deeping, Love Among the Ruins, page 101. From the entry bend sinister

Meaning of sinister

  1. adjective Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
  2. adjective Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
  3. adjective Of the left side.

Full definition of sinister

Questions about sinister in a sentence

How do you use sinister in a sentence?
Sinister is used as an adjective. For example: “Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them.”
What is a short sentence with sinister?
“the sinister atmosphere of the crypt”
What does sinister mean?
Sinister means inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sinister (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use sinister in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sinister. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.