Crossword Genius

Evil in house cast out (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

heinous

'evil' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'in house cast out' is the wordplay.
'cast' indicates anagramming the letters (letters are dispersed or cast around).
'out' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'house' with letters rearranged gives 'heous'.
'in' put inside 'heous' is 'HEINOUS'.

(Other definitions for heinous that I've seen before include "Iniquitous" , "Awful" , "Execrable" , "Diabolic" , "Utterly wicked" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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