Reference > Usage > American Heritage® Book of English Usage > 3. Word Choice > § 43. baleful / baneful
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The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English.  1996.

3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints

§ 43. baleful / baneful


Baleful and baneful overlap in meaning, but baleful usually applies to something that menaces or foreshadows evil: a baleful look. Baneful most often describes something that is actually harmful or destructive: baneful effects of their foreign policy.    1


The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
 
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