evilness
State of malevolence
Evilness is the quality of being evil—morally wrong, wicked, or harmful.
The word is less common than evil used as a noun: the evil in men's hearts sounds more natural than the evilness in men's hearts.
Evilness tends to appear when emphasizing the quality as a trait: The sheer evilness of the act shocked everyone.
Moral corruption or evil
- villainyCriminal or evil behavior
- maliceIntent to cause harm
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- viciousnessExtreme cruelty or spite
sadism · brutality · inhumanity · spite · vindictiveness · hostility · hatred · animosity
Moral depravity condition
- iniquityMoral wrongdoing, grave injustice
- viceBad habit or deputy
- depravityProfound moral corruption
- corruptionDishonest abuse of power
turpitude · degeneracy · profligacy · unrighteousness · wrongdoing · transgression · blasphemy · sacrilege
Quality of seeming threatening
- menaceSource of potential harm
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- darknessTotal absence of light
- shadowLight blocked by object
creepiness · eeriness · dread · malignancy · ghoulishness · macabre · diabolical · demonic
Corrupt payment for influence
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- extortionObtaining through threats
- graftIllicit political gain
nepotism · cronyism · racketeering · collusion · exploitation · dishonesty · misappropriation · scandal
wickedness
Moral corruption or evil
- villainyCriminal or evil behavior
- maliceIntent to cause harm
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
viciousness · sadism · brutality · inhumanity · spite · vindictiveness · hostility · hatred · animosity · enmity
sinfulness
Moral depravity condition
corruption · turpitude · degeneracy · profligacy · unrighteousness · wrongdoing · transgression · blasphemy · sacrilege · impiety
ominousness
Quality of seeming threatening
- menaceSource of potential harm
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- darknessTotal absence of light
shadow · creepiness · eeriness · dread · malignancy · ghoulishness · macabre · diabolical · demonic · satanic
bribery
Corrupt payment for influence
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- extortionObtaining through threats
graft · nepotism · cronyism · racketeering · collusion · exploitation · dishonesty · misappropriation · scandal · venality
- wickednesswickedness, villainy, malice, iniquity, depravity
- horrorshorror, dread, terror, fright, dreadfulness
evilnessgoodness
Moral excellence
virtue · virtuousness · holiness · righteousness · morality
evil, evildoer, evilly, evilest, evildoing, eviler, evildoings