All 3 Uses of
mischievous
in
The Adventures of Augie March
- It never occurred to us that she sinned mischievously herself against that convulsed speak-no-evil who hugged his lips with his hands; but no criticism of her came near our minds at any time, much less when the resonance of a great principle filled the whole kitchen.†
Chpt 1mischievously = in a manner that playfully causes minor trouble
- And mischievous, full of the devil she looks.†
Chpt 8 *
- I gave a double-take at her water-sparkling eyes and freezing, wavering, mascara-lined, goblin, earnest and disciplinarian, membranous, and yet gorgeous face, with its fairy soot of pink and that red snare of her mouth; yet feminine; yet mischievous; yet still hopefully and obstinately seductive.†
Chpt 26
Definitions:
-
(1)
(mischievous) playfully causing minor trouble; or describing the smile of someone doing soMuch less commonly, mischievous can reference real harm without any sense of fun. But in modern writing, that usage has largely shifted to other words like malicious, destructive, or damaging.
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) 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.