baleful, baneful

baleful, baneful
These "look-alikes" mean "harmful," "pernicious," "menacing." In ordinary use, the words are interchangeable, although baneful also means "poisonous" and is normally applied to substances, causes, and influences that result in death."The gathering clouds promised a baleful storm." "Some poisons are merely injurious, but others are baneful." You are not likely to be arrested if you give a rival a baleful glance, but watch out if you give him a baneful dose of arsenic.

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • baneful — baleful, baneful These two somewhat literary words are not much used in everyday language; baleful is slightly better known perhaps than baneful. Since they overlap in meaning, they tend to be confused. Baleful (from bale, ‘misery’) means ‘having …   Modern English usage

  • baleful — baleful, baneful These two somewhat literary words are not much used in everyday language; baleful is slightly better known perhaps than baneful. Since they overlap in meaning, they tend to be confused. Baleful (from bale, ‘misery’) means ‘having …   Modern English usage

  • baleful — See baleful, baneful …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • baneful — See baleful, baneful …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • baleful — I adjective bad, baneful, calamitous, damaging, dangerous, deadly, deleterious, despiteful, destructive, detrimental, dire, disadvantageous, evil, harmful, heinous, hurtful, ill omened, inauspicious, insalubrious, lethal, malefic, malevolent,… …   Law dictionary

  • baneful — I adjective bad, baleful, corrosive, damaging, dangerous, deadly, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, disadvantageous, disastrous, disserviceable, evil, fatal, harmful, heinous, hostile, hurtful, insalubrious, injurious, lethal, malevolent,… …   Law dictionary

  • baneful — *pernicious, noxious, deleterious, detrimental Analogous words: harmful, injurious, mischievous, hurtful (see corresponding nouns at INJURY): malign, *sinister, baleful: *poisonous, venomous, toxic Antonyms: beneficial Contrasted words:… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • baneful — [adj] ruinous, injurious baleful, calamitous, deadly, deleterious, destructive, disastrous, evil, fatal, harmful, hurtful, malefic, noxious, pernicious, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous, wicked; concepts 537,570 Ant. advantageous,… …   New thesaurus

  • baneful — adjective 1. exceedingly harmful • Syn: ↑deadly, ↑pernicious, ↑pestilent • Similar to: ↑noxious • Derivationally related forms: ↑pestilence (for: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • baleful — Synonyms and related words: apocalyptic, bad, baneful, bitchy, black, bodeful, boding, corroding, corrosive, corrupting, corruptive, counterproductive, cussed, damaging, dark, deadly, deleterious, detrimental, dire, direful, disadvantageous,… …   Moby Thesaurus

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