Definition of "sinister" []

• Suggesting or threatening evil: a sinister smile. (adjective)
• Presaging trouble; ominous: sinister storm clouds. (adjective)
• Attended by or causing disaster or inauspicious circumstances. (adjective)
• On the left side; left. (adjective)
• Heraldry Situated on or being the side of a shield on the wearer's left and the observer's right. (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.

• "Even the English word sinister comes from the Latin sinestra, which means left."
• "Hence, the word sinister describes this other side of the human body."
• "S refers to the Latin word sinister, meaning left."