Baleful

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baleful \Bale"ful\ (b[=a]l"f[.u]l), a. [AS. bealoful. See {Bale}
     misery.]
     1. Full of deadly or pernicious influence; destructive.
        "Baleful enemies." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              Four infernal rivers that disgorge
              Into the burning lake their baleful streams.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Full of grief or sorrow; woeful; sad. [Archaic]
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  baleful
       adj 1: deadly or sinister; "the Florida eagles have a fierce
              baleful look" [syn: {baneful}]
       2: threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a
          baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone
          became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent";
          "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his
          threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation
          became ugly" [syn: {forbidding}, {menacing}, {minacious},
          {minatory}, {ominous}, {sinister}, {threatening}, {ugly}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  82 Moby Thesaurus words for "baleful":
     apocalyptic, bad, baneful, bitchy, black, bodeful, boding,
     corroding, corrosive, corrupting, corruptive, counterproductive,
     cussed, damaging, dark, deadly, deleterious, detrimental, dire,
     direful, disadvantageous, disserviceable, distressing, doomful,
     dreary, evil, evil-starred, fateful, foreboding, gloomy, harmful,
     hateful, hurtful, ill, ill-boding, ill-fated, ill-omened,
     ill-starred, inauspicious, iniquitous, injurious, invidious,
     lethal, lowering, malefic, maleficent, malevolent, malicious,
     malign, malignant, mean, menacing, mischievous, nasty, noisome,
     noxious, of evil portent, ominous, ornery, pernicious, poisonous,
     portending, portentous, prejudicial, scatheful, sinister, somber,
     threatening, toxic, unfavorable, unfortunate, unlucky, unpromising,
     unpropitious, untoward, venenate, veneniferous, venenous, venomous,
     vicious, virulent, wicked