All 4 Uses

sinister
in
The House of the Seven Gables
(Edited)

Is there nothing dark or sinister anywhere?
Chpt 6 *

sinister = evil, harmful, or frightening
Nevertheless, in the artist's deep, thoughtful, all-observant eyes, there was, now and then, an expression, not sinister, but questionable; as if he had some other interest in the scene than a stranger, a youthful and unconnected adventurer, might be supposed to have.
Chpt 10
She instinctively knew, it may be, that some sinister or evil potency was now striving to pass her barriers; nor would she decline the contest.
Chpt 13
But before retiring, Jaffrey bethought himself of the evidence, in these ransacked drawers, that some one had visited the chamber with sinister purposes.
Chpt 21

Definitions:

(1) (sinister)
evil or harmful; or making an evil or frightening impression
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Much more rarely and only in very old usage, sinister can refer to the left side of something.