nefarious
adjective
formal uk
/nəˈfeə.ri.əs/ us
/nəˈfer.i.əs/The company's CEO seems to have been involved in some nefarious practices/activities.
Synonyms
Meaning of nefarious in English
(Definition of nefarious from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
Examples of nefarious
nefarious
The body is a particular area of concern : the claim that in postmodernity the body is infinitely malleable is particularly nefarious for old people.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Under these circumstances the physician does not lend a false mantle of respectability to nefarious deeds.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In the 1950s and 1960s, a number of laboratory studies cemented the view that social influence has nefarious consequences on otherwise rational individuals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
But reports from reliable sources suggest that its real purpose was more nefarious.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Or consider what the nefarious concepts of public, public outcry, and public opinion mean in these accounts.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
He also followed a similar key element of utilitarianism, the consequentialist principle, in his analysis to determine whether luxury is desirable or nefarious.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
However well-intentioned, all of these reforms had nefarious effects because of improper implementation and insufficient mobilisation of external financial resources.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Both biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of these fascinating and nefarious ticks.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Abstaining from research or to limit the findings of research at the risk of having the results used for nefarious purposes is to do a greater harm.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Indeed, the closer the potential criminal comes to committing a nefarious deed, the more confident we can be about the prediction that he or she will commit the crime.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The blood test here was not a useful probative tool but an almost nefarious attack on the child that would leave him or her forever uncertain of his parentage.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Burgess provides an allegory on the brainwashing power of recorded music: that in the wrong ' ears', it can invoke anti-social behaviour, stimulate nefarious acts, provide pleasure but also pain.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Wheelclamping for a release fee is an industry which, if not regulated strictly, will attract nefarious and devious operators wanting to make easy money.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
These nefarious plans have increasingly been coming from above.
We all know that, occasionally, the odd character happens on a charity and exploits it in his own nefarious interests.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
