Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions
Trivia Time
Which video game features a villainous character named Dr. Nefarious?

nefarious

[ni-fair-ee-uhs] / nɪˈfɛər i əs /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But open-weight models like those released by Chinese companies can be more easily altered and optimized by users for nefarious purposes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"Once the jailbreak works it will talk about any topic, it will even freely offer up recommendations about other topics that are also nefarious and it will be inventive and creative," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Cerimedo set up the hit, prosecutors charge, in a nefarious attempt at damage control.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Anthropic, the AI tech company behind Claude, released a report Thursday detailing how bad actors have attempted to use its products for nefarious ends, from scams and mass surveillance to biological weapons development.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

What she had made was called a grappling hook, which is something used for climbing up the sides of buildings, usually for a nefarious purpose.

From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket


Vocabulary lists containing nefarious

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training