See lesser of two evils in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"word": "greater of two evils"
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"glosses": [
"The least harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives."
],
"id": "en-lesser_of_two_evils-en-noun-7pM88Snb",
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"harmful",
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"(idiomatic) The least harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives."
],
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"word": "necessary evil"
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{
"word": "damned if one does and damned if one doesn't"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "lesser evil"
}
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"tags": [
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"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "ʔahwanu š-šarrayni",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "أَهْوَنُ الشَّرَّيْنِ"
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"word": "\"to choose the lesser of two evils\""
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{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "liǎng hài xiāng quán qǔ qí qīng",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "兩害相權取其輕 /两害相权取其轻"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "pienempi paha"
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{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
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"word": "moindre mal"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "geringeres Übel"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "kisebbik rossz"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "male minore"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "mniejsze zło"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "răul cel mai mic"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ménʹšeje iz dvux zol",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "ме́ньшее из двух зол"
},
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"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
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"word": "mal menor"
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"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"archaic"
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"word": "ehvenişer"
}
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"word": "lesser of two evils"
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"pos": "noun",
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"word": "necessary evil"
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"word": "damned if one does and damned if one doesn't"
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"word": "greater of two evils"
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"glosses": [
"The least harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives."
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"(idiomatic) The least harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives."
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"code": "ar",
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"roman": "ʔahwanu š-šarrayni",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "أَهْوَنُ الشَّرَّيْنِ"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"verb"
],
"word": "\"to choose the lesser of two evils\""
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "liǎng hài xiāng quán qǔ qí qīng",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "兩害相權取其輕 /两害相权取其轻"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "pienempi paha"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "moindre mal"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "geringeres Übel"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "kisebbik rossz"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "male minore"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "mniejsze zło"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "răul cel mai mic"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "ménʹšeje iz dvux zol",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "ме́ньшее из двух зол"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "mal menor"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"archaic"
],
"word": "ehvenişer"
}
],
"word": "lesser of two evils"
}
Download raw JSONL data for lesser of two evils meaning in English (3.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (e4a2c88 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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