mischief

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, meschief, from meschever (“to bring to grief”), from mes- (“badly”) + chever (“happen", "come to a head”), from Vulgar Latin *capare, from Latin caput (“head”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɪstʃɨf/, /ˈmɪʃtʃɨf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪstʃɪf

Noun

mischief (plural mischiefs)

1. Harm or evil caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.
2. One who causes mischief. In a milder sense, one who causes petty annoyances. mischief-maker.
3. Vexatious or annoying conduct.

Quotations

• 1914-1915 "I fear this means that there is some mischief afoot." — Sherlock Holmes in The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Synonyms

• (evil): agitation, annoyance, corruption, damage, demolition, destruction, detriment, disablement, disruption, evil, harm, hurt, ill, impairment, incapacitation, injury, nuisance, pique, ravage, sabotage, scathe, trouble, undoing, unmaking, vexation, weakening, wrong
• (mischief-maker): bad boy, booger, buffoon, bugger, cutup, devil, elf, enfant terrible, fun-maker, hell-raiser, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, imp, joker, jokester, knave, life of the party, little devil, little monkey, little rascal, minx, mischief-maker, pixie, practical joker, prankster, puck, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, rowdy, ruffian, scamp, scapegrace, thug, trouble maker, vandal, wag
• (annoying conduct): bad manners, badness, delinquincy, devilishness, devilment, devilry, deviltry, disobedience, elfishness, goings-on, hanky-panky, impishness, impropriety, misbehavior, mischievousness, misconduct, misdemeanor, monkey business, naughtiness, prankishness, pranksomeness, puckishness, rascality, roguery, roguishness, scampishness
• See also Wikisaurus:villain
• See also Wikisaurus:troublemaker

Derived terms

• malicious mischief
• mischievous
• mischievously
• mischievousness
• mischief-maker

Translations

harm or evil caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause

• Bulgarian: беля (bg) (belja) f
• Finnish: ilkamointi, kujeilu, ilkivalta, jäynä, pahanteko, kiusanteko
• French: espièglerie, polissonnerie (fr)
• German: Unheil (de) n, Unfug (de) m
• Greek: αταξία (el) (ataxía) f, διαβολιά (el) (diavoliá) f
• Italian: danno (it) m
• Polish: niegodziwość (pl), szkoda (pl)

• Russian: вред (ru) (vred) m, зло (ru) (zlo) n
• Scottish Gaelic: trioblaid (gd) f
• Slovak: zlota (sk) f, potvorstvo (sk) n
• Spanish: travesura (es) f, diablura (es) f, daño (es) m, maldad (es) f, picardía (es) f
• Swedish: hyss (sv) n, ofog (sv) n, bus (sv) n
• Welsh: direidi (cy) m, drygioni (cy) m

one who causes mischief

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 促狹鬼 (cmn), 促狭鬼 (cmn) (cùxiáguǐ)

• French: espiègle (fr)
• German: Störenfried (de) m
• Greek: άτακτος (el) (átaktos) m, σκανδαλιάρης (el) (skandaliáris) m
• Italian: malandrino (it), birbone (it)

• Japanese: いたずらっ子 (ja) (いたずらっこ, itazurakko)
• Russian: озорник (ru) (ozorník) m, шалун (ru) (šalún) m, проказник (ru) (prokáznik) m
• Slovak: potvora (sk) f, darebák (sk) m, nezbedník (sk) m
• Spanish: revoltoso (es) m, travieso (es) m
• Swedish: odåga (sv) c, buse (sv) c, bråkstake (sv) c, bråkmakare (sv) c

vexatious or annoying conduct

• Cherokee: ᏄᏁᎸᎾ (chr) (nunelvna)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡作劇 (cmn), 恶作剧 (cmn) (èzuòjù)

• French: sottise (fr), espièglerie (fr), bêtise (fr)
• German: Unfug (de) m, Unheil (de) n
• Greek: αταξία (el) (ataxía) f

• Hindi: शरारत (hi) (śarārat) f
• Italian: vessatorio (it), indisponente (it)
• Japanese: いたずら (ja) (itazura), 悪戯 (ja)
• Russian: озорство (ru) (ozorstvó) n, шалость (ru) (šálost') f
• Spanish: travesura (es) f, diablura (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: sottise

• Spanish: travesura