From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnefariousne‧far‧i‧ous /nɪˈfeəriəs $ -ˈfer-/ adjective formal SCCBAD PERSONevil or criminal nefarious activities such as drug trafficking and fraud
Examples from the Corpus
nefarious• Increasingly, they have been linked to more nefarious activities, from cheating on taxes to financing cocaine traffickers.• Many of the spies had been involved in murder, blackmail, or other nefarious activities.• Their sins deny them rest and they will continue their nefarious behaviour beyond the grave unless formally exorcised.• What sheer bad luck to meet a literary policeman when he was trying to do something nefarious but necessary.• The Ostrich first came to fame through the nefarious exploits of its one-time landlord, Jarman.• As a servant to the court of Pepin, Gummarus married the nefarious Guinimaria.• As it turned out, Beaton's efforts, whether nefarious or not, were very quickly nullified.• Jealous cultural ministers from other lands wonder what nefarious persuasions he used.• Gresham himself did not live to see the outcome of any of these nefarious schemes.Origin nefarious (1600-1700) Latin nefarius, from nefas “crime” 