baleful
pronunciation
How to pronounce baleful in British English:
UK [ˈbeɪlfl]
How to pronounce baleful in American English:
US [ˈbelfəl]
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- Adjective:
- deadly or sinister
- threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
Word Origin
- baleful (adj.)
- Old English bealu-full "dire, wicked, cruel," with -ful + bealu "harm, injury, ruin, evil, mischief, wickedness, a noxious thing," from Proto-Germanic *balwom (cognates: Old Saxon balu, Old Frisian balu "evil," Old High German balo "destruction," Old Norse bol, Gothic balwjan "to torment"), from PIE root *bhelu- "to harm." During Anglo-Saxon times, the noun was in poetic use only (in compounds such as bealubenn "mortal wound," bealuðonc "evil thought"), and for long baleful has belonged exclusively to poets. Related: Balefully.
Example
- 1. He now thinks this influence was baleful .
- 2. The polls corroborate the baleful economic portents .
- 3. Perhaps only queen elizabeth ii can rescue her realm from the baleful treaty of lisbon .
- 4. The instrument of disney 's baleful global influence is u. s.copyright policy , over which the entertainment goliath holds considerable sway .
- 5. The disaster and its baleful consequences , human , medical and administrative , long predated dow 's arrival on the scene .