baleful

[beyl-fuhl]

adjective

1. full of menacing or malign influences; pernicious.

   Synonyms: deadly, wicked, evil, detrimental, injurious, malign, harmful

2. Obsolete.,  wretched; miserable.

baleful

/ ˈbeɪlfʊl /

adjective

1. harmful, menacing, or vindictive

2. archaic,  dejected

Other Word Forms

• balefully adverb
• balefulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of baleful¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English bealofull. See bale ², -ful

Example Sentences

The details of Knight's upbringing were not disclosed in court, but Judge Richardson described them as "baleful".

From BBC

The truth is there in the baleful eyes of the figures who don’t get to speak, especially the bloodied prisoners handcuffed to the stair railing at the police station where her mother works.

From Los Angeles Times

That makes the action sequence showing Joel methodically gunning down armed men and women to retrieve his surrogate daughter thrilling and baleful because we are watching him write a check destined to come due.

From Salon

The basic premise that the U.S. is always and everywhere a baleful influence is not easy to falsify.

From Salon

They will all trace back to Wednesday, back to Dublin, back to the Europa League final, and they will all take exactly the same, baleful form: What if?

From New York Times