adjective
baleful
BAYL-ful/ˈbeɪlfl/
Threatening harm or evil.
The older woman's baleful glare makes the younger woman lean away.
Etymology
Bealu names harm or evil, and -ful can suggest causing something as well as containing it. A baleful look therefore conveys hostility or threatened harm.
In context
her baleful eyes look the curses she dare not speak
More examples
- A baleful influence seemed to hang over the abandoned house.
- The novel opens beneath a baleful red sky.
- Her baleful warning silenced the laughing crowd.
Similar words
- menacing
- Emphasizes an apparent threat of immediate harm.
- malevolent
- More directly implies an intention or desire to cause harm.