baleful

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈbeɪlfəl/ UK /ˈbeɪlfəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
menacing or threatening harm; full of malign influence

He shot a baleful glare across the crowded room.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · menacing or threatening... menacing sinister threatening malignant ominous malevolent

Opposites

benign benevolent kindly

Word family

Derived forms balefullybalefulness

Related forms bale bane

Simplified etymology

Baleful comes from the old Germanic word bale, meaning “evil,” and has been used in English since Old English.

Etymology

From Old English bealofull, from bealu ('evil, harm, calamity') + -full; bealu is from Proto-Germanic *balwą.

bealu Old English *balwą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# baleful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈbeɪlfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbeɪlfəl/

## Meanings
1. menacing or threatening harm; full of malign influence

## Examples
- He shot a baleful glare across the crowded room.

## Synonyms
- menacing
- sinister
- threatening
- malignant
- ominous
- malevolent

## Antonyms
- benign
- benevolent
- kindly

## Derived Forms
- balefully
- balefulness

## Related Forms
- bale
- bane

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bealu
- Root: *balwą

## Etymology
From Old English bealofull, from bealu ('evil, harm, calamity') + -full; bealu is from Proto-Germanic *balwą.

## AI Etymology
Baleful is from Old English bealofull, from bealu ('evil, harm, calamity') + -full; bealu is from Proto-Germanic *balwą. In present-day use, it means menacing or threatening harm; full of malign influence. Derived formations include balefully and balefulness. Related vocabulary includes bale and bane.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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