Nefarious
Nefarious adjective - Not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable.
Usage example: the chaste heroines and nefarious villains of old-time melodramas
Unethical
Unethical adjective - Not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable.
Usage example: unethical treatment of prisoners of war that was a clear violation of international law
Nefarious and unethical are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Nefarious" instead an adjective "Unethical".
Nearby Word: unethically
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- base and nefarious
- base and unethical
- corrupt and nefarious
- corrupt and unethical
- foul and nefarious
- foul and unethical
- disreputable and nefarious
- disreputable and unethical
- immoral and nefarious
- immoral and unethical
- depraved and nefarious
- depraved and unethical
- vile and nefarious
- vile and unethical
Cite this Source
Unethical and Nefarious. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/nefarious/unethical
Nefarious & Unethical. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/nefarious/unethical>.
Unethical or Nefarious. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/nefarious/unethical.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "nefarious" and "unethical" have occurred on timeline