1
as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come
a dark, baleful sky portending a tornado
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in adverse
causing or capable of causing harm
contends that the violent content of so much of popular entertainment is a baleful influence on our society
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3
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death
a medicine that is beneficial in small doses but baleful in large
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of baleful
Orange County officials are the most recent to come under his baleful gaze.
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Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2025
Dafoe’s presence and a distinctively baleful island ambience represent the chief selling points of this predominantly feel-bad exercise, premiering in Locarno’s Piazza Grande program.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Aug. 2025
The truth is there in the baleful eyes of the figures who don’t get to speak, especially the bloodied prisoners handcuffed to the stair railing at the police station where her mother works.
—Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2025
Its baleful guitar and hackneyed vocals make the average doubts shared by everyone who has ever been in love seem generic.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baleful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baleful
Adjective
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Episodes are bound together by banal introductory voiceover, in which our narrator recites ominous clichés that, like everything in His & Hers, border on parody.—
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More ominous still is the thought of the FanDuel mentality extending into other areas of American life.—
Adjective
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Public systems can be somewhat risk adverse.—
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Nekrasov said adverse weather conditions also left parts of several other regions without power, including Chernihiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia.—
Adjective
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The blackout slashed internet access to a fraction of normal levels on the 13th day of the protests as rights groups, including Amensty International, accused the regime of using lethal force against protesters.—
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An 11-week-old baby died in 2024 in Lakewood because a bottle of baby formula fed to him was contaminated with lethal amounts of methamphetamine.—
Adjective
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Smallwood, less innately sinister as a performer, turns the part into a slow burn.—
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If Park’s film begins as another lament for our layoff-laden modern world, the South Korean director soon introduces a sinister twist.—
Adjective
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Some harmful varieties closely resemble edible mushrooms, even to experienced foragers.—
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On each phone, the lock screen image was a photo of a child who died young due to the harmful effects of social media.—
Adjective
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The Burbank Police Department also shared a security camera video from the deadly shootout.—
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Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks.—
Adjective
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If the sky becomes menacing and thunder becomes audible, seek out a safe place to seek shelter.—
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Look to the upper region of the lunar crescent to find the menacing form of the Aristotles crater with its eastern rim bathed in impenetrable shadow.—
Adjective
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Rat poison, in Saban-speak, is what is detrimental to teams that start believing their hype and losing focus on the controllables like working as hard as possible every day.—
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So did the first-round bye really prove to be that detrimental?—
Cite this Entry
“Baleful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baleful. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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