All 5 Uses of
mischievous
in
The Idiot
- Of course he could have undeceived her before she started, but the mischievous boy had been careful not to do that, foreseeing the probably laughable disgust that she would experience when she found her dear friend, the prince, in good health.†
Chpt 2.6
- And remember, if you say, one word about 'mischievous urchins,' I shall go away and break with you altogether.†
Chpt 2.12 *
- Did that mischievous urchin give it to her?†
Chpt 2.12
- The scissors were in her hand, and I had to go down on my knees and implore her...She did it, I know, from sheer mischief, to spite her mother, for she is a naughty, capricious girl, a real spoiled child spiteful and mischievous to a degree!†
Chpt 3.1
- Eccentric, senseless and mischievous!†
Chpt 3.1
Definitions:
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(1)
(mischievous) playfully causing minor trouble; or describing the smile of someone doing so
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(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) In law, mischievous references a property crime such as vandalism or graffiti. Very rarely, the word can reference someone or something causing serious damage.
In archaic literature mischievous often refers to bad behavior without any connotation of playfulness or of the harm being minor.