Synonyms of sinister
84 similar words · 1 opposite word
Another word for sinister is star-crossed. Other synonyms of sinister are ill-starred, dire, abandoned, disastrous and ill-fated.
Synonyms and similar words for sinister
adjectiveInauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- forebodingOf ominous significance; serving as an ill omen; foretelling of harm or difficulty.
- portentousOminously prophetic.
- augurousFull of augury; foreboding.
- balefulPortending evil; ominous.
- bodefulPortentous; ominous; foreboding.
- bodingForeboding, ominous, portending.
- direWarning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
- disastrousForeboding disaster; ill-omened.
- fatalForeboding death or great disaster.
- ill-bodingWhich bodes evil; portending bad things.
- ill-fatedUnlucky; doomed.
- ill-omenedHaving a bad omen; inauspicious; unlucky.
- ill-starredDoomed to a bad fate; hapless.
- inauspiciousNot auspicious; ill-omened.
- ominous
- brooding
- presagefulFull of presages; ominous.
- presagiousForeboding; ominous.
- star-crossedIll-fated by destiny, the fate of the person being “written in the stars”.
- divine obsoleteForeboding; prescient.
- inauspicate obsoleteInauspicious.
- nefastous rareInauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened.
- omenic rareHaving the quality of an omen; carrying ominous or prophetic significance.
- prodigious archaicHaving the nature of an omen or portent; ominous, portentous.
- sullen obsoleteMischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
adjectiveEvil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
- maliciousIntending to do harm; characterized by spite and malice.
- malevolentHaving or displaying ill will; wishing harm on others.
- abandonedHaving given oneself up to vice; immoral; extremely wicked, or sinning without restraint; irreclaimably wicked.
- badEvil; wicked.
- bad appleA person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others.
- bad seed
- scurrilous
- baneful
- baseMorally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
- black-heartedHaving a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.
- darkMarked by or conducted with secrecy.
- deleterious
- demonicExtremely cruel or evil; abhorrent or repugnant; diabolical.
- depraved
- despicableFit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.
- detrimentalCausing damage or harm.
- devilishEvil, wicked.
- diabolicalExtremely wicked or cruel.
- evil
- evil-mindedHaving evil thoughts or intentions.
- flagitious literary
- harmfulCausing or likely to cause harm or damage; injurious.
- heinous
- ill-intentionedHaving bad intentions; malevolent.
- ill-natured
- immoralBreaching principles of natural law, rectitude, or justice, and so inconsistent with the demands of virtue, purity, or...
- incorrigible
- iniquitousMorally objectionable; sinful, wicked.
- injurious
- knavishHaving the characteristics of a knave; mischievous, roguish, waggish, rascally or impertinent.
- maleficHaving an evil or harmful influence; baleful.
- maleficentHarmful or evil in intent or effect.
- malign
- malignant
- nefariousSinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.
- no-goodHaving no value, use or merit.
- peccaminousSinful.
- pernicious
- reprehensible
- reprobate
- satanicEvil, fiendish, devilish or diabolical.
- scathful
- sinfulConstituting a sin; morally or religiously wrong; wicked; evil.
- sordid
- ungodlyImmoral, sinful, or wicked.
- unholy
- vicious
- vile
- villainous
- wickedEvil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.
- wrong
- arrant datedVery bad; despicable.
- facinorous archaicExtremely wicked.
- iniquous obsoleteSynonym of iniquitous.
- naughty archaic, rareEvil, wicked, morally reprehensible.
- niddering archaicSynonym of nithing (“cowardly, dastardly; notoriously evil or wicked; infamous”).
- nidering archaic
- niding archaic
- nithing archaicNotoriously evil or wicked; infamous.
Opposite of sinister
adjectiveOf the left side.
- dexterRight; on the right-hand side. (In heraldry, specifically the bearer's right, which is the viewer's left.).
Meaning of sinister
- adjective Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- adjective Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
- adjective Of the left side.
sinister in other languages
Questions about synonyms of sinister
- What is another word for sinister?
- Sinister has 84 synonyms on Word.ws, such as star-crossed, ill-starred, dire, abandoned, disastrous, ill-fated, wicked and foreboding.
- What is the opposite of sinister?
- The opposite of sinister is dexter.
- What does sinister mean?
- Sinister means inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sinister (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of sinister.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/sinister. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.