baleful
4
8.4
- adjective
- /ˈbeɪl.fəl/
- Formal
- The moon hangs low and baleful in a dead sky.
- baleful consequences
- baleful influence
Examples
-
An old woman fixed him with a baleful stare, then turned away.
Fiction book (2001) -
I'm just tired of your baleful looks.
-
As usual, he gave me a baleful look and changed position, turning his back to me.
Fiction book (2001) -
When I went in, my father left his desk and stood motionless with a baleful stare fixed upon me.
Fiction book (1991) -
Yellow headlights came on like baleful eyes, and the engine snarled.
Fiction book (2002) -
Glaxia Fortinay swept a baleful glance over the other members of her group.
Fiction book (1999) -
Black ringlets cascaded onto her shoulders, and her small, baleful eyes were heavily mascaraed.
Fiction book (1996) -
The disgruntled leader flashed a baleful look at Eliza and shook his head.
Fiction book (1994) -
The pauka paused to consider the matter, casting a baleful glance back at the grinning dog.
Fiction book (1991) -
As usual, he gave me a baleful look and changed position, turning his back to me.
Synonyms
140
3.6
Showing that something bad or dangerous may happen
90
6.1
Giving a feeling that something bad will happen
74
6.4
Makes you feel that something bad will happen
70
8.1
Extremely evil and cruel, as if caused by the devil
43
8.8
Very bad and illegal, done to harm people
42
8.2
Very evil and cruel, like a devil
41
5.0
Giving the feeling that something dangerous may happen
22
8.0
Wanting to harm others
14
7.3
Very bad and cruel, often hurting other people
10
7.9
Being very cruel and evil and making others suffer
9
6.6
Looking unfriendly or dangerous so people do not want to go near
8
6.3
Showing strong hate and wanting to hurt someone
2
5.3
A person or thing that looks dangerous and likely to cause harm
2
4.2
Very bad or unpleasant in a strong way
1
9.9
Causing great fear or showing terrible danger
1
9.1
Causing great harm or serious damage
1
9.9
That makes people feel afraid
1
7.8
Very evil and cruel, like the devil
A voice or look that makes you feel someone will cause harm
Antonyms
How Threatening
Surface Forms
Morphology
baleful = bale (opaque) = bale + ful
Although formed from 'bale' + '-ful', the sense relies on an archaic noun 'bale' meaning harm, which most learners do not know, so the meaning is not derivable by a typical learner.
Etymology
Baleful comes from an old English root bāl meaning 'evil' or 'sorrow' and the ending -ful meaning 'full of'. So baleful literally means 'full of harm', which is why we use it for things that feel threatening or sinister.