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What Is the Difference Between vicious, villainous, and nefarious?
Nefarious comes from the Latin adjective nefarius and the Latin noun nefas, which means "crime." Nefas is a combination of ne- ("not") and fas, meaning "right" or "divine law."
Examples of nefarious in a Sentence
Moreover, those starry-eyed states inclined to perceive international relations in moral terms frequently underestimate the nefarious machinations of their competitors on the world political stage.
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Richard Wolin, New Republic, 4 June 2001
… I always give the same response: Just because Frank posed for pictures with every leading capo, underboss and cement contractor of the day doesn't mean that he joined them in their nefarious underworld activities. Oh, occasionally he rode along on a hit or two, but that was just one of those social obligations …
—Lewis Grossberger, Time, 21 Dec. 1998
Three-tenths of a mile uphill from our mailbox on the road, that bend is so nefarious that neophytes often skidded into a snowbank or wound up fender-deep in mud there.
—Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987
a nefarious scheme to cheat people out of their money
the chaste heroines and nefarious villains of old-time melodramas
Richard Wolin, New Republic, 4 June 2001
… I always give the same response: Just because Frank posed for pictures with every leading capo, underboss and cement contractor of the day doesn't mean that he joined them in their nefarious underworld activities. Oh, occasionally he rode along on a hit or two, but that was just one of those social obligations …
—Lewis Grossberger, Time, 21 Dec. 1998
Three-tenths of a mile uphill from our mailbox on the road, that bend is so nefarious that neophytes often skidded into a snowbank or wound up fender-deep in mud there.
—Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987
a nefarious scheme to cheat people out of their money
the chaste heroines and nefarious villains of old-time melodramas
Recent Examples on the Web
Though the reasons for the forces behind the nefarious organization are made more plain in the last two episodes, the show’s pacing stalls out, losing the intense momentum that had been so carefully built until this point.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 13 July 2025
Actually a loose spinoff of a character seen briefly in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (which still rules, by the way), Ballerina sees de Armas seeking vengeance against the tribe that killed her father, a group led by a nefarious figure sketched by Gabriel Byrne.
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 11 July 2025
As we've been recently reminded, people can use AI video generation for nefarious purposes.
—ArsTechnica, 10 July 2025
Yet some commentators, such as Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine, have suggested that something less nefarious might be at play: that Jane Street may have spotted a pricing inefficiency between Indian bank stocks and related derivatives, and closed that gap.
—Daniel Schlaepfer, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nefarious
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Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 13 July 2025
Actually a loose spinoff of a character seen briefly in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (which still rules, by the way), Ballerina sees de Armas seeking vengeance against the tribe that killed her father, a group led by a nefarious figure sketched by Gabriel Byrne.
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 11 July 2025
As we've been recently reminded, people can use AI video generation for nefarious purposes.
—ArsTechnica, 10 July 2025
Yet some commentators, such as Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine, have suggested that something less nefarious might be at play: that Jane Street may have spotted a pricing inefficiency between Indian bank stocks and related derivatives, and closed that gap.
—Daniel Schlaepfer, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nefarious
Cite this Entry
“Nefarious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nefarious. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nefarious
adjective
ne·far·i·ous
ni-ˈfar-ē-əs 
-ˈfer-
: very wicked : evil
nefariously
adverb
nefariousness
noun
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