- 1[uncountable] a force that causes bad things to happen; morally bad behavior the eternal struggle between good and evil the forces of evil You can't pretend there's no evil in the world. opposite good
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- 2[countable, usually plural] a bad or harmful thing; the bad effect of something the evils of drugs/alcohol social evils Idioms
the less unpleasant of two unpleasant choices
a thing that is bad or that you do not like but which you must accept for a particular reason The loss of jobs is regarded as a necessary evil in the fight against inflation.
Check pronunciation: evil