| Library / English Dictionary |
MISCHIEF
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
Synonyms:
devilment; devilry; deviltry; mischief; mischief-making; mischievousness; rascality; roguery; roguishness; shenanigan
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("mischief" is a kind of...):
misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mischief"):
blaze; hell (noisy and unrestrained mischief)
monkey business (mischievous or deceitful behavior)
hooliganism; malicious mischief; vandalism (willful wanton and malicious destruction of the property of others)
Derivation:
mischievous (deliberately causing harm or damage)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The quality or nature of being harmful or evil
Synonyms:
balefulness; maleficence; mischief
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("mischief" is a kind of...):
evil; evilness (the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice)
Attribute:
maleficent (harmful or evil in intent or effect)
Derivation:
mischievous (deliberately causing harm or damage)
Context examples:
You look quite red, as if you had been about some mischief: what were you opening the window for?
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I will tell you what, Fanny, said she, I am sure he fell in love with you at the ball; I am sure the mischief was done that evening.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
The mischief of neglect and mistaken indulgence towards such a girl—oh! how acutely did she now feel it!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
You may safely trust him, for he appears to be too limp to get into any mischief.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then seizing the shaving glass, he went on: And this is the wretched thing that has done the mischief. It is a foul bauble of man's vanity.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
"But if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away, for they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us."
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
In a forest of his country lived two giants, who caused great mischief with their robbing, murdering, ravaging, and burning, and no one could approach them without putting himself in danger of death.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
She apprehended some mischief would happen to me from rude vulgar folks, who might squeeze me to death, or break one of my limbs by taking me in their hands.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
There was mischief brewing among these hot-headed, short-spoken salts, but Captain Foley changed the subject to discuss the new ships which were being built in the French ports.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And all the time this quiet country house of yours is the centre of half the mischief in England, and the sporting squire the most astute secret-service man in Europe.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
