felonous

F4E1L1O1N1O1U1S1

adjective

Evil, wicked.

OriginMiddle English felenous(e), felenows, fellenouse, felonous(e), felonows(e), felonus ← Old French feloneus →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

adjectivefelonous (comparative more felonous, superlative most felonous)

comparative more felonous · superlative most felonous

  1. obsoleteEvil, wicked.

    I Pilate am the falſeſt, alas, / And moſt vniuſt that by vnrighteous / And wicked doome to Iewes deſpiteous, / Deliuered vp the Lord of life to dye, / And did acquite a murdrer felonous, […]

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 289

Origin

  1. Old Frenchfeloneus
  2. Middle Englishfelenous(e), felenows, fellenouse, felonous(e), felonows(e), felonus
  3. Englishfelonous

From Middle English felenous(e), felenows, fellenouse, felonous(e), felonows(e), felonus, from Old French feloneus. By surface analysis, felon (“an evil or wicked person”) + -ous.

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

felonous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felonous

MLA

“felonous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felonous. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “felonous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/felonous.

Source: felonous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.