Mischief Meaning
/ˈmɪsˌt͡ʃiːf/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounConduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.
nounA playfully annoying action.
Sentence Examples
The little boy got into mischief when he was left alone.
I like the child all the better for his mischief.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The children caused a lot of ____ by hiding their teacher's glasses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The playful little puppy was always getting into some kind of ____, like hiding my favorite slippers under the living room sofa.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English myschef, meschef, meschief, mischef, from Old French meschief, from meschever (“to bring to grief”), from mes- (“badly”) + chever (“happen; come to a head”), from Vulgar Latin *capare, from Latin caput (“head”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Kirac, the leader of the rats under his charge, speaks to the major through his telepathic abilities that manifested after the alien virus infected him and his mischief of rats."
— 2014, G. W. Rennie, The Rat Chronicles, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 21:
"A group of rats is not a herd or a gaggle, but a pack or a mischief of rats. Rats in general are omnivorous, meaning they will eat almost anything."
— 2015, Rachel Smith, John Davidson, Rats For Kids, Mendon Cottage Books, →ISBN, page 6:
"Was I the Cauſe of Miſchief, or the Man / Whoſe lawlesſ Luſt the bloody War began?"
— 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 502, lines 139–140:
"I have been tired in history with the perpetual folly of those states, who call in foreigners to assist them against a common enemy: but the mischief was, these allies would never be brought to allow, that the common enemy was quite subdued. And they had reason; for it proved at last, that one part of the common enemy was those who called them in, and so the allies became at length the masters."
— 1718 December 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “A Letter Concerning the Sacramental Test”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume IV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 435:
"Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief."
— 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 8, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The children caused a lot of ____ by hiding their teacher's glasses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The playful little puppy was always getting into some kind of ____, like hiding my favorite slippers under the living room sofa.