Definition of "baleful" []

• Portending evil; ominous. See Synonyms at sinister. (adjective)
• Harmful or malignant in intent or effect. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "If I do not succeed in getting Dionea this place (and all your Excellency's illustriousness and all my poor eloquence will be needed to counteract the sinister reports attaching to our poor little waif), it will be best to accept your suggestion of taking the girl into your household at Rome, since you are curious to see what you call our baleful beauty."
• "WW was a room full of big women and a few big men on rickety folding chairs bathed in baleful hospital light."
• "WBYL = 'baleful' it's not true that 'the baleful Jewish (thing)' has no meaning in Arabic."