evil eye
noun
Simple meaning
A wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
eevuhlySay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈivəˈlaɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
often humorous
A look conveying disapproval, envy, hostility, etc.
The charm used to ward off the evil eye; a nazar.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
Used this way, evil eye is a reasonably familiar word carrying real weight of difficulty or hurt. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Strongly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Evil eye is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.