mischievous

UK/mɪsˈt͡ʃiː.vi.əs/<a:nonstandard; often along with the spellings ''mischievious'' and/or ''mischevious''><ref:{{R:MWOUS/mɪsˈt͡ʃiː.vi.əs/<a:nonstandard; often along with the spellings ''mischievious'' and/or ''mischevious''><ref:{{R:MWO

adjectiveB2+2 meanings Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,056 of 15,258neutral

Mischievous means playfully naughty without meaning any harm. The child who hid your keys and is watching you look.

The absence of malice is essential, and that is what separates mischief from cruelty. It suits children, dogs and a certain kind of adult. Note the spelling and pronunciation, since there is no i before the ous, and mischievious is one of the most common mistakes in English. There is a sharper journalistic use, since a mischievous rumour is one spread deliberately to cause trouble. The noun is mischief.

Definitions of mischievous

1adjectivemischievousPlayfully naughty, without intending real harm.B2+
“He gave her a mischievous grin.”
2adjectivecauseIntended to cause trouble.C1
“It was a mischievous piece of reporting.”

Where it comes from

Mischief is coming to a bad end. Old French meschever joins mes, badly, to chever, to come to a head, from chef, a head, so mischief was misfortune long before it was naughtiness.

Old French
meschever
Anglo-Norman
meschevous
Middle English
myschevous
English, today
mischievous

Built from

mes- · Old French — mis-
chever · Old French — come to an end
chef · Old French — head

From Middle English myschevous, mischevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous, from Old French meschever, from mes- (“mis-”) + chever (“come to an end”) (from chef (“head”)). by surface analysis, mischief + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

mischievous