TOP

Definition of nefarious adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

nefarious

adjective
 
/nɪˈfeəriəs/
 
/nɪˈferiəs/
 (formal)
jump to other results
  1. criminal; extremely bad
    • nefarious activities
    • They can hack your account and use the information for nefarious purposes.
    Topics Personal qualitiesc2
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryNefarious is used with these nouns:
    • scheme
    See full entry
    Word Originearly 17th cent.: from Latin nefarius, from nefas, nefar- ‘wrong’ (from ne- ‘not’ + fas ‘divine law’) + -ous.
See nefarious in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: nefarious

Nearby words

previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day