mischief
Harmless troublesome antics
Mischief is playful behavior that causes minor trouble or annoyance without serious harm: The kids got into mischief while we were out.
It suggests impish troublemaking rather than malice—a child's prank, a pet's antics.
Eyes full of mischief signals someone is up to something.
The phrase do mischief or make mischief implies stirring up trouble, sometimes deliberately causing discord between people.
Legal use retains an older sense of actual harm: criminal mischief means property damage or vandalism.
Playful trick on someone
- anticLudicrous or playful act
- rompPlayful, spirited activity
- frolicLighthearted playful movement
- caperPrank or pickled bud
lark · jest · shenanigan · tomfoolery · horseplay · hijinks · skylarking · jape
Playfully mischievous in manner
- cheekyPlayfully disrespectful
- roguishMischievously charming
- rascalLovable troublemaker
- scampMischievous young person
devilish · prankster · troublemaker · scallywag · rapscallion · disobedient · wayward · unruly
Tiny magical creature
- fairyTiny winged magical creature
- goblinMalicious folklore creature
- leprechaunMischievous Irish sprite
- puckHockey's rubber projectile
trickster · poltergeist · brownie · hobgoblin · pixie · imp · elf · fae
Harm or impairment
- sabotageDeliberate disruption of operations
- vandalismWillful property damage
- tamperingImproper interference with something
- destructionAct of completely ruining
interference · disruption · wrecking · undermining · malicious · injury · spoiling · impairment
Unlawful act by officeholder
- wrongdoingUnethical or illegal action
- transgressionViolation of law or code
- offenseViolation or umbrage
- violationBreaking of rules
infraction · criminality · malice aforethought · liability · culpability · tort · damages · negligence
prank
Playful trick on someone
caper · lark · jest · shenanigan · tomfoolery · horseplay · hijinks · skylarking · jape · escapade
impish
Playfully mischievous in manner
scamp · devilish · prankster · troublemaker · scallywag · rapscallion · disobedient · wayward · unruly · defiant
sprite
Tiny magical creature
- fairyTiny winged magical creature
- goblinMalicious folklore creature
- leprechaunMischievous Irish sprite
puck · trickster · poltergeist · brownie · hobgoblin · pixie · imp · elf · fae · kobold
damage
Harm or impairment
- sabotageDeliberate disruption of operations
- vandalismWillful property damage
- tamperingImproper interference with something
destruction · interference · disruption · wrecking · undermining · malicious · injury · spoiling · impairment · defacement
malfeasance
Unlawful act by officeholder
- wrongdoingUnethical or illegal action
- transgressionViolation of law or code
- offenseViolation or umbrage
violation · infraction · criminality · malice aforethought · liability · culpability · tort · damages · negligence · lawsuit
- childhoodchildhood, baby, child, kid, toys
- humorjoke, jokes, joking, comedy, comic
- childhood behaviorsgiggling, skipping, tantrums, whining, pouting
- misbehaviornaughty, naughtiness, disobedient, disobedience, defiance
- mischiefhijinks, antics, pranks, antic, prank
- misconductbullying, stealing, vandalism, cheating, harassment
mischiefobedience
Compliance with authority
good behavior · compliance · discipline · propriety · docility
mischiefseriousness
Earnest, weighty demeanor
solemnity · gravity · gravitas · earnestness · soberness
mischiefbenefit
Advantage or gain
good · help · harmlessness · constructiveness · helpfulness
- making mischief
- criminal mischiefIntentional property damage offense
- mischief managedWrongdoing successfully completed
- malicious mischiefIntentional property destruction
- Mischief NightAnnual pranking tradition before Halloween
mischievous, mischievously, mischievousness, mischiefs, mischief-maker, mischief-makers