Meanings
plural evilnesses
- countableuncountableThe quality or state of being evil.
[…] they lament the evilness and malice of evil men, and pray God for the evil, that he will convert them from their evilness and malice, and so make them good of evil men.
1808, Legh Richmond, The Fathers of the English ChurchSynonyms: badness, viciousness, malignity, vileness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe quality or state of being evil.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishyfelnyss
- Middle Englishyvelnesse
- Englishevilness
From Middle English yvelnesse, from Old English yfelnyss; equivalent to evil + -ness.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan maldat
- maldatof or relating to evil
Dutch slechtheid, kwaadaardigheid
- slechtheidof or relating to evil
- kwaadaardigheidof or relating to evil
Finnish pahuus
- pahuusof or relating to evil
German Boshaftigkeit
- Boshaftigkeitof or relating to evil
Indonesian kekejaman, kejahatan
- kekejamanof or relating to evil
- kejahatanof or relating to evil
Romanian răutate, maliție
- răutateof or relating to evil
- malițieof or relating to evil
- malițiozitateof or relating to evil
Spanish maldad
- maldadof or relating to evil
Turkish kötülük
- kötülükof or relating to evil
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
evilness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evilness
“evilness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evilness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “evilness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evilness.
Source: evilness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.