evil
part of speech
adjective (evil, more evil, most evil); noun (evil, evils)
meaning for a pupil
1) Evil means very bad and cruel, wanting to hurt others. tree →
2) Evil is great wickedness and harm. tree →
3) An evil is a very bad thing that causes harm, as in «the lesser of two evils». tree →
4) The evil can mean evil people, the wicked ones. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It means wickedness or wrongdoing, and also disaster or harm. Interpretation: The Torah says to remove the evil from among the people by punishing wrongdoers; tradition also teaches that people have a pull toward good and a pull toward evil, and may choose. In the primary lessons: In fairy tales and stories, evil characters, such as wicked witches and villains, fight against good ones, and good usually wins. In everyday talk it is sometimes used playfully («an evil grin»). Phrases: «good and evil», «an evil plan», «the lesser of two evils».
examples
- So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. (Torah DEU.13.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee. (Torah DEU.17.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. (Torah EXO.32.12, JPS 1917) tree →
- Shall evil be recompensed for good? (Prophets JER.18.20, JPS 1917) tree →
- No evil shall come upon us'? (Prophets MIC.3.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. (Prophets JER.11.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- The evil witch cast a spell on the princess. tree →
- In the end, good defeated evil. tree →
- The villain had an evil plan to steal the crown. tree →
- He gave an evil laugh in the school play. tree →
- Bullying is cruel, not just naughty. tree →
- Choosing between them was the lesser of two evils. tree →
- The cat gave the dog an evil look. tree →
- Kindness is thrown away upon the evil. tree →
note
As a noun it is usually uncountable. Stronger than «bad» or «naughty». Real people are complicated: in real life it is better to call actions wrong than to call people evil.
In the corpora
- And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of the LORD; and He slew him also.
- Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.'
- Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.
- And the LORD repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people.
- And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; and no man did put on him his ornaments.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «evil» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.