HOW TO PRONOUNCE
sinister
/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does sinister mean?
adjective
- Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
More meanings (3)
adjective
- (archaic) Of the left side.
- (archaic) On the left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.
- (obsolete) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stəɹ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
“Is there nothing dark or sinister anywhere? Could you not conceive the original to have been guilty of a great crime?”
Tall and black, they move slowly by, and seem in the sinister light to flit before the city like dim warning ghosts.
More book examples (3)
All parties experienced the greatest delight at being rid of the sinister gangs who had so long oppressed and exploited the country.
Thus the aristocracy took their revenge by singing lampoons on their new master, and whispering in his ears sinister prophecies of coming catastrophe.
The sinister truth remained that, whether hyperbolically or parabolically borne away, the projectile would never again meet either the earth or the moon.