baleful
English · Thesaurus
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baleful
- /ˈbeɪl.fəl/
Where it comes from
From Middle English baleful, balful, baluful, from Old English bealuful, which was equivalent to bealu + -ful. By surface analysis, bale (“evil, woe”) + -ful. See bale for further etymology.
adjective more baleful · most baleful · balefull
-
Portending evil; ominous.
The street-lamps burn amid the baleful glooms,
Amidst the soundless solitudes immense
Of ranged mansions dark and still as tombs.
Similar: foreboding, portentous, augurous, baleful, bodeful, boding, dire, disastrous, divine, fatal, ill-boding, ill-fated
- Miserable, wretched, distressed, suffering. Thou balefull Messenger, out of my sight:
- Deadly, mortal. With balefull weedes, and precious Iuiced flowers, / The earth that's Natures mother, is her Tombe,
Translations
Talk about this word "baleful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/baleful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. baleful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/baleful "baleful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/baleful.Cite this
@misc{baleful_2026,
title = {baleful},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/baleful},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
