Synonyms for sinister
ˈsɪn ə stərsin·is·ter

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 2 votes

1. sinisteradjective

   Antonyms:
   dexter

2. sinisteradjective

   Antonyms:
   dexter

3. sinisteradjective

   Antonyms:
   dexter

4. sinisteradjective

   Antonyms:
   dexter

5. sinisteradjective

   Antonyms:
   dexter

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.7 / 3 votes

1. sinister

   Synonyms:
   unlucky, inauspicious, ill-omened, portentous, disastrous, unfavorable, wrong, unfair, underhanded, evil, foul, dishonest, dishonorable, forbidding, repulsive, lowering

   Antonyms:
   lucky, fortunate, propitious, auspicious, favorable, right, fair, open, honest, honorable, attractive, winning, engaging, assuring, frank

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.8 / 8 votes

1. baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threateningadjective

   threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

   "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly"

   Synonyms:
   grim, inauspicious, sullen, minacious, baneful, lowering, black, baleful, dark, heavy, minatory, dour, ominous, menacing, ill, forbidding, threatening

   Antonyms:
   dextral, good, unalarming

2. black, dark, sinisteradjective

   stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable

   "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy

   Synonyms:
   blackened, ominous, sullen, bootleg, black-market, disgraceful, calamitous, forbidding, dismal, dark, moody, non-white, disconsolate, threatening, coloured, glum, fatal, dark-skinned, black, fateful, baleful, smuggled, inglorious, menacing, dim, pitch-dark, glowering, minatory, obscure, sour, pitch-black, grim, mordant, drab, benighted, contraband, shameful, saturnine, disastrous, smutty, ignominious, sorry, gloomy, morose, bleak, dingy, dreary, dour, drear, opprobrious, minacious, blue

   Antonyms:
   good, unalarming, dextral

3. sinisteradjective

   on or starting from the wearer's left

   "bar sinister"

   Synonyms:
   forbidding, dark, minacious, baleful, minatory, black, menacing, threatening, ominous

   Antonyms:
   unalarming, good, dextral

Matched Categories

1. • Heraldry

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. sinisteradjective

   Synonyms:
   left, on the left hand

2. sinisteradjective

   Synonyms:
   unlucky, inauspicious, unfortunate, untoward, disastrous, injurious

3. sinisteradjective

   Synonyms:
   wrong, bad, evil, perverse, corrupt, wicked, sinful, criminal

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sinisteradjective

   Synonyms:
   left, unlucky, inauspicious, evil, wrong, forbidding

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "sinister":

   ominous, sinistral, grim, eerie, insidious, macabre, evil, underhand, spooky, dark, gloomy

Suggested Resources

1. sinister

   Song lyrics by sinister -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by sinister on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use sinister in a sentence?

1. Audrey Strauss:

   She was far more sinister than just a bit odd.

2. Linda Barto:

   He has been lying to me about everything for all of the 52 years I have known him. ... He spent his whole sinister life lying and sneaking around, so he could carry on his abuse uninterrupted.

3. Octavio Paz:

   The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation; certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the Press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by those kindly, sinister beings, the North American mothers and wives. A person imprisoned by these schemes is like a plant in a flowerpot too small for it: he cannot grow or mature.

4. Nicholas Alahverdian:

   A conspiracy, in short, is based on small groups with inherently competing interests. At some point in the evolution of the competition between two or more groups (and in some cases, within subversive groups), there are rumors or allegations made of sinister behavior or a secretive plot developed by the members or the leadership of the groups. Occasionally, the groups will have diametrically opposed goals and this leads to further subversion.

5. Jeff Dennis:

   It would be very hard, as a user, to see through some sort of phishing campaign when they're using information that you thought was very private to you, such as information that would be found on Facebook in your bio section, particularly, when you combine it with location information, you can see how bad guys would start to use this information in a very sinister but effective way.