Both Uses of
mischievous
in
The Souls of Black Folk
- Beriah Green had a school in Oneida County, New York, with a score of mischievous boys.†
Chpt 12
- Frightened, she slipped by; and half mischievously he turned and ran after her through the tall pines.†
Chpt 13 *mischievously = in a manner that playfully causes minor trouble
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.