mischievous
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
enjoying causing trouble in a playful way that is not meant to be mean or harmful.
showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful, often harmless way; characterized by impish or cheeky behaviour.
Simple“The mischievous puppy hid my shoes under the sofa while I was sleeping.”
In context“The child gave his mother a mischievous grin before darting away to hide the television remote.”
PitfallHe had a mis-chee-vee-us smile. He had a mis-chiv-ous smile.A common error is adding an extra 'i' sound; the word has three syllables, not four.
- 02 C1 Advanced
intended to cause trouble, damage, or problems for someone.
intended to cause harm, injury, or annoyance. Often used in formal or legal contexts regarding false statements or actions.
Simple“The newspaper was accused of spreading mischievous lies about the politician.”
In context“The court determined that the defendant had acted with mischievous intent when he filed the false report to disrupt the proceedings.”
Antonyms
From Middle English myschevous, mischevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous, from Old French meschever, from mes- (“mis-”) + chever (“come to an end”) (from chef (“head”)). By surface analysis, mischief + -ous.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.