MISCHIEF

mischief, mischief-making, mischievousness, deviltry, devilry, devilment, rascality, roguery, roguishness, shenanigan

(noun) reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others

maleficence, mischief, balefulness

(noun) the quality or nature of being harmful or evil

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

mischief (countable and uncountable, plural mischiefs)

(uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

Synonyms: delinquency, naughtiness, roguery, scampishness, Thesaurus:villainy, Thesaurus:mischief

(countable) A playfully annoying action.

(collective) A group or a pack of rats.

(archaic) Harm or injury

(uncountable) Harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.

(countable) An injury or an instance of harm or trouble caused by a person or other agent or cause.

(archaic, countable) A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.

Synonyms: bad boy, knave, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, Thesaurus:villain, Thesaurus:troublemaker

(euphemism) The Devil; used as an expletive.

Synonyms

• (harm or injury): agitation, annoyance, corruption, damage, demolition, destruction, detriment, disablement, disruption, evil, harm, hurt, ill, impairment, incapacitation, injury, nuisance, pique, ravage, sabotage, scathe, trouble, undoing, unmaking, vexation, weakening, wrong

Source: Wiktionary


Mis"chief, n. Etym: [OE. meschef bad result, OF. meschief; pref. mes- (L. minus less) + chief end, head, F. chef chief. See Minus, and Chief.]

1. Harm; damage; esp., disarrangement of order; trouble or vexation caused by human agency or by some living being, intentionally or not; often, calamity, mishap; trivial evil caused by thoughtlessness, or in sport. Chaucer. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Ps. lii. 2. The practice whereof shall, I hope, secure me from many mischiefs. Fuller.

2. Cause of trouble or vexation; trouble. Milton. The mischief was, these allies would never allow that the common enemy was subdued. Swift. To be in mischief, to be doing harm or causing annoyance.

– To make mischief, to do mischief, especially by exciting quarrels.

– To play the mischief, to cause great harm; to throw into confusion. [Colloq.]

Syn.

– Damage; harm; hurt; injury; detriment; evil; ill.

– Mischief, Damage, Harm. Damage is an injury which diminishes the value of a thing; harm is an injury which causes trouble or inconvenience; mischief is an injury which disturbs the order and consistency of things. We often suffer damage or harm from accident, but mischief always springs from perversity or folly.

Mis"chief, v. t.

Definition: To do harm to. [Obs.] Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

8 November 2024

REPLACEMENT

(noun) the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another; “replacing the star will not be easy”


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