mischief

mischief

English

Etymology

From Middle English myschef, meschef, meschief, mischef, from Old French meschief, from meschever (“to bring to grief”), from mes- (“badly”) + chever (“happen; come to a head”), from Vulgar Latin *capare, from Latin caput (“head”).

Pronunciation

• (US, UK (South)) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪst͡ʃɪf/, /ˈmɪʃt͡ʃɪf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪstʃɪf
• (UK, Midlands and North) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪstʃiːf/, /ˈmɪʃtʃiːf/
• Rhymes: -ɪstʃiːf

Noun

mischief (countable and uncountable, plural mischiefs)

1. (uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

   Synonyms: delinquency, naughtiness, roguery, scampishness; see also Thesaurus:villainy, Thesaurus:mischief

   Drink led to mischief.

2. (countable) A playfully annoying action.

   John's mischief, tying his shoelaces together, irked George at first.

3. (collective) A group or a pack of rats.
   • 2014, G. W. Rennie, The Rat Chronicles, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 21:

     Kirac, the leader of the rats under his charge, speaks to the major through his telepathic abilities that manifested after the alien virus infected him and his mischief of rats.

   • 2015, Rachel Smith; John Davidson, Rats For Kids, Mendon Cottage Books, →ISBN, page 6:

     A group of rats is not a herd or a gaggle, but a pack or a mischief of rats. Rats in general are omnivorous, meaning they will eat almost anything.

4. (archaic) Harm or injury:
   1. (uncountable) Harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.

      She had mischief in her heart.

      Sooner or later he'll succeed in doing some serious mischief.

      • 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432, lines 139–140, page 502:

        Was I the Cauſe of Miſchief, or the Man / Whoſe lawlesſ Luſt the bloody War began?

      • 1718 December 15 (Gregorian calendar)​, Jonathan Swift, “A Letter Concerning the Sacramental Test”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], volume IV, new edition, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, OCLC 1184656746, page 435:

        I have been tired in history with the perpetual folly of those states, who call in foreigners to assist them against a common enemy: but the mischief was, these allies would never be brought to allow, that the common enemy was quite subdued. And they had reason; for it proved at last, that one part of the common enemy was those who called them in, and so the allies became at length the masters.

      • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 8, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, OCLC 1708336:

        Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.

      • 1914, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 1, in The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, published 27 February 1915, OCLC 1127485186:

        I fear this means that there is some mischief afoot.

   2. (countable) An injury or an instance of harm or trouble caused by a person or other agent or cause.

      It may end in her doing a great mischief to herself—and perhaps to others too.

      • c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], Tho[mas] Heywood, editor, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, OCLC 1121318438, Act I, [scene iv]:

        [R]eligion / Hides many mischiefs from suspicion.

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Deuteronomy 32:23:

        I will heape mischiefes vpon them, I will spend mine arrowes vpon them.

5. (law) A criminal offence defined in various ways in various jurisdictions, sometimes including causing damage to another's property.
6. (archaic, countable) A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.

   Synonyms: bad boy, knave, rapscallion, rascal, rogue; see also Thesaurus:villain, Thesaurus:troublemaker

   • 1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], OCLC 926827207:

     To die like a man of honour, Sir Hargrave, you must have lived like one. You should be sure of your cause. But these pistols are too ready a mischief. Were I to meet you in your own way, Sir Hargrave, I should not expect, that a man so enraged would fire his over my head, as I should be willing to do mine over his. Life I would not put upon the perhaps involuntary twitch of a finger.

   • 1993, Carlos Parada, Genealogic Guide to Greek Mythology, page 71:

     Epimetheus was scatter-brained and a mischief to men for having taken the woman [Pandora] that Zeus had formed.

7. (euphemistic) The Devil; used as an expletive.
   • 1967, The Statesman (volume 12, page 260)

     What the mischief are you? and how the mischief did you get here, and where in thunder did you come from?

8. (Australia) Casual and/or flirtatious sexual acts.

Synonyms

• (harm or injury): agitation, annoyance, corruption, damage, demolition, destruction, detriment, disablement, disruption, evil, harm, hurt, ill, impairment, incapacitation, injury, nuisance, pique, ravage, sabotage, scathe, trouble, undoing, unmaking, vexation, weakening, wrong

Derived terms

• malicious mischief
• mischief-maker
• mischievous
• mischievously
• mischievousness

 

Translations

conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance

Afrikaans: kattekwaad Bulgarian: пакост (bg) f (pakost) Cherokee: ᏄᏁᎸᎾ (nunelvna) Chinese: Mandarin: 惡作劇／恶作剧 (zh) (èzuòjù) Czech: darebáctví n Dutch: kattenkwaad (nl) n Finnish: ilkamointi (fi), kujeilu (fi), ilkivalta (fi), jäynä (fi), pahanteko, kiusanteko French: espièglerie (fr), bêtise (fr) German: Unfug (de) m, Unheil (de) n, Querulantentum n Greek: αταξία (el) f (ataxía) Hindi: शरारत (hi) f (śarārat) Irish: diabhlaíocht f, rógaireacht f Italian: vessatorio (it), indisponente (it) Japanese: 悪戯 (ja) (いたずら, itazura) Maori: raweke Navajo: ádílááh Norwegian: Bokmål: ablegøye (no) m Portuguese: travessura (pt) f Punjabi: ਇਲਤ (pa) f (ilat) Russian: озорство́ (ru) n (ozorstvó), ша́лость (ru) f (šálostʹ) Spanish: travesura (es) f, diablura (es) f, gamberrada f

harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause

Bulgarian: беля (bg) f (belja) Catalan: entremaliadura (ca), malifeta (ca) Czech: darebáctví n, rošťárna f, škoda (cs) f, spoušť (cs) f Dutch: onheil (nl) n Finnish: harmi (fi), kiusa (fi), tihutyö (fi) French: espièglerie (fr), polissonnerie (fr) Galician: trasnada (gl) f, falcatrúa f, falcatruada f German: Unheil (de) n, Unfug (de) m, Aufruhr (de) m Greek: αταξία (el) f (ataxía), διαβολιά (el) f (diavoliá) Hungarian: baj (hu) Irish: dochar m, díobháil f, trioblóid f Italian: danno (it) m, malanno (it) m, birboneria f, bravata (it) f Maori: hīanga, porohīanga Norwegian: Bokmål: ugagn n, revestrek m, fantestrek m Polish: niegodziwość (pl), szkoda (pl) Portuguese: dano (pt) m, travessura (pt) f Russian: вред (ru) m (vred), зло (ru) n (zlo) Sanskrit: एनस् (sa) n (enas) Scottish Gaelic: trioblaid f Slovak: zlota f, potvorstvo n Spanish: travesura (es) f, diablura (es) f, daño (es) m, maldad (es) f, picardía (es) f Swedish: hyss (sv) n, ofog (sv) n, bus (sv) n Turkish: muzırlık (tr) Welsh: direidi m, drygioni m Westrobothnian: böl n

one who causes mischief

Catalan: entremaliat (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 促狹鬼／促狭鬼 (zh) (cùxiáguǐ) Czech: darebák (cs) m, rošťák m, vandal (cs) m Dutch: plaaggeest (nl) Finnish: riiviö (fi), ilkimys French: espiègle (fr) German: Störenfried (de) m, Unruhestifter (de) m, Rowdy (de) m, Schläger (de) m, Aufrührer (de) m, Anstifter (de) m Greek: άτακτος (el) m (átaktos), σκανδαλιάρης (el) m (skandaliáris) Hungarian: bajkeverő (hu) Irish: diabhal m, áibhirseoir m, toirmeascaí m, clampróir m Italian: malandrino (it), birbone (it) Japanese: 悪戯っ子 (いたずらっこ, itazurakko) Portuguese: travesso (pt) m Russian: озорни́к (ru) m (ozorník), шалу́н (ru) m (šalún), прока́зник (ru) m (prokáznik) Slovak: potvora f, darebák m, nezbedník m Spanish: revoltoso (es) m, travieso (es) m Swedish: odåga (sv) c, buse (sv) c, bråkstake (sv) c, bråkmakare (sv) c Turkish: muzır (tr)

(law) a criminal offence

Chinese: Mandarin: 罪行 (zh) (zuìxíng) French: méfait (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: (please verify) anmhailís f, (please verify) breathas m, (please verify) crosa f pl, (please verify) donas m, (please verify) drochobair f, (please verify) mísc f, (please verify) neamh-aistear m, (please verify) toirmeasc m Spanish: (please verify) travesura (es)

Verb

mischief (third-person singular simple present mischiefs, present participle mischiefing, simple past and past participle mischiefed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To do a mischief to; to harm.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (page 144)

     […] so, when the two ladders were taken down, no man living could come down to me without mischiefing himself, […]

2. (transitive, obsolete) To slander.
   • 1708, John Dunton, The Phenix (page 403)

     And so it hath been divers times; Men mischiefing the Jews to excuse their own Wickedness: as to instance one Precedent in the time of a certain King of Portugal.

Translations

to do mischief, to get up to mischief

Maori: porohīanga

Further reading

• mischief at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Mischief in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

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Middle English

Noun

mischief

1. Alternative form of myschef