English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English sinistre (unlucky), from Old French senestre, sinistre (left), from Latin sinister (left hand).[1]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sinister (comparative more sinister, superlative most sinister)

  1. Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate (as in bar sinister).
    • 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: [] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
      All the several ills that visit earth,
      Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “1/5/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days[1]:
      And in the meanwhile, Society shivered a little feverishly, filled now with the scions of those who had come over with the Jewish and American Conquests. Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them.
  2. Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
    sinister influences
    the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
  3. (archaic) Of the left side.
    Antonym: dexter
  4. (heraldry) On the left side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the right side to the viewer.
    Antonym: dexter
  5. (obsolete) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “sinister”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sinister (comparative sinisterder, superlative sinisterst)

  1. sinister

Declension

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Declension of sinister
uninflected sinister
inflected sinistere
comparative sinisterder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial sinister sinisterder het sinisterst
het sinisterste
indefinite m./f. sing. sinistere sinisterdere sinisterste
n. sing. sinister sinisterder sinisterste
plural sinistere sinisterdere sinisterste
definite sinistere sinisterdere sinisterste
partitive sinisters sinisterders

German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sinister (strong nominative masculine singular sinisterer, comparative sinisterer, superlative am sinistersten)

  1. sinister

Declension

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Further reading

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  • sinister” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • sinister” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *senisteros, of unclear origin. Possibly a euphemism from Proto-Indo-European *senh₂-is- (more obtaining), from *senh₂- (to seek, gain) (thus the direction of "left" as "the more favorable (side)"), and cognate with Sanskrit सनोति (sanoti, to gain, procure),[1] सनीयान् (sanīyān, more useful, more advantageous).[2]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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sinister (feminine sinistra, neuter sinistrum, comparative sinistrior, superlative sinistimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

  1. left
    Synonyms: laevus, scaevus
    Antonym: dexter
  2. perverse, bad; or adverse, hostile
  3. (religion) auspicious (for Romans) or inauspicious (for Greeks)
    • 1st BC, Virgilius
      sinistra cornix
      good omen
    • 2nd century, Apuleius
      sinistro pede profectus
      started with bad omen

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative sinister sinistra sinistrum sinistrī sinistrae sinistra
Genitive sinistrī sinistrae sinistrī sinistrōrum sinistrārum sinistrōrum
Dative sinistrō sinistrō sinistrīs
Accusative sinistrum sinistram sinistrum sinistrōs sinistrās sinistra
Ablative sinistrō sinistrā sinistrō sinistrīs
Vocative sinister sinistra sinistrum sinistrī sinistrae sinistra

Descendants

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References

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  • sinister”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • sinister”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • Castiglioni-Mariotti, IL
  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “sinister”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 566
  2. ^ Per Klein, Buck.