(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Evil is a powerful force that some people believe to exist, and which causes wicked and bad things to happen.
There’s always a conflict between good and ~ in his plays.
? good
N-UNCOUNT
2.
Evil is used to refer to all the wicked and bad things that happen in the world.
He could not, after all, stop all the ~ in the world.
N-UNCOUNT
3.
If you refer to an ~, you mean a very unpleasant or harmful situation or activity.
Higher taxes may be a necessary ~.
...a lecture on the ~s of alcohol.
N-COUNT
4.
If you describe someone as ~, you mean that they are very wicked by nature and take pleasure in doing things that harm other people.
...the country’s most ~ terrorists...
She’s an ~ woman.
ADJ
5.
If you describe something as ~, you mean that you think it causes a great deal of harm to people and is morally bad.
After 1760 few Americans refrained from condemning slavery as ~...
ADJ
6.
If you describe something as ~, you mean that you think it is influenced by the d~.
I think this is an ~ spirit at work...
ADJ
7.
You can describe a very unpleasant smell as ~.
Both men were smoking ~-smelling pipes.
ADJ
8.
If someone is putting off the ~ day or the ~ hour, they have to do something unpleasant and are trying to avoid doing it for as long as possible.
You can simply go on putting off the ~ day and eventually find yourself smoking as much as ever.
PHRASE: usu v PHR
9.
If you have two choices, but think that they are both bad, you can describe the one which is less bad as the lesser of two ~s, or the lesser ~.
People voted for him as the lesser of two ~s...
PHRASE