nefarious.

Marked by deliberate and serious wrongdoing.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• nefarious scheme
• nefarious purpose

On the page

The ledger exposed a nefarious scheme.

A nefarious purpose lay behind the invitation.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more nefarious; superlative most nefarious where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.