The Only Use of
mischievous
in
Julius Caesar
- And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which hatched, would, as his kind grow mischievous;p. 51.5mischievous = behaving harmfully
Definitions:
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(1)
(mischievous) playfully causing minor trouble; or describing the smile of someone doing so
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(2)
(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.