# evil

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈiː.vəl/ · frequency rank #1,859

## Definitions
1. Intending to harm; malevolent.
2. Morally corrupt.
3. Unpleasant, foul (of odor, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
4. Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
5. Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
6. Undesirable; harmful; bad practice.

## Etymology
From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). See -le for the supposed suffix.
Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch euvel (“evil”), German übel (“bad, evil”), German Low German övel (“evil”), Luxembourgish iwwel (“queasy, nauseous; bad”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”).

## Easily confused with
- **evo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/evil-vs-evo)
- **exit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/evil-vs-exit)
- **exile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/evil-vs-exile)
- **evils** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/evil-vs-evils)
- **el** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/el-vs-evil)
- **EV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ev-vs-evil)
- **EI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ei-vs-evil)
- **eve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eve-vs-evil)
- **EVA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eva-vs-evil)
- **Eli** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eli-vs-evil)
- **Eid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eid-vs-evil)
- **eel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eel-vs-evil)
- **ESL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/esl-vs-evil)
- **EPL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/epl-vs-evil)
- **ell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ell-vs-evil)
- **EFL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/efl-vs-evil)
- **Eis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eis-vs-evil)
- **EDL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/edl-vs-evil)
- **Eri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eri-vs-evil)
- **even** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/even-vs-evil)

## Common misspellings (4)
`eivl`, `evill`, `evli`, `evvil`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/evil