# mischief

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɪs.tʃiːf/ · frequency rank #18,136

## Definitions
1. Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.
2. A playfully annoying action.
3. A group or a pack of rats.
4. Harm or injury:
5. Harm or injury:
6. A criminal offence defined in various ways in various jurisdictions, sometimes including causing damage to another's property.
7. A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.
8. The Devil; used as an expletive.
9. Casual and/or flirtatious sexual acts.

## Etymology
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”).

## Common misspellings (12)
`imschief`, `micshief`, `miscchief`, `mischeif`, `mischhief`, `mischieff`, `mischife`, `miscihef`, `mishcief`, `misschief`, `mmischief`, `msichief`

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