mischievous

CEFRB2

/ˈmɪs.t͡ʃɪ.vəs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Enjoying playful behavior that causes minor trouble.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Troublesome, cheeky, badly behaved, impish, naughty, disobedient; showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way and liking to have fun by playing harmless tricks on people or doing things they are not supposed to do.

Examples

  • It is true the boy is mischievous, but he is kind at heart.

  • Keep an eye on the boys. They're mischievous.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /mɪsˈt͡ʃiː.vəs/
  • /mɪsˈt͡ʃiː.vi.əs/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning
  1. Causing mischief; injurious.

More examples

In context
  • Matthew had a twin brother called Edward, who was always mischievous and badly behaved.

  • ...; that good and bad actions at present are naturally rewarded and punished, not only as beneficial and mischievous to society, but also as virtuous and civious; ...

  • On the whole, therefore, he concludes that the point of indulgence at which these self-passions or self-affections begin to be mischievous to the individual coincides with that at which they begin to be mischievous to society; ...

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English myschevous, mischevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous, from Old French meschever, from mes- (“mis-”) + chever (“come to an end”) (from chef (“head”)). By surface analysis, mischief + -ous.