devil

1 of 2

noun

dev·​il ˈde-vᵊl 

 dialectal  ˈdi-

1

often capitalized : the personal supreme spirit of evil often represented in Christian belief as the tempter of humankind, the leader of all apostate angels, and the ruler of hell

—usually used with the

—often used as an interjection, an intensive, or a generalized term of abuse

what the devil is this?

the devil you say!

2

: an evil spirit : demon

3

a

: an extremely wicked person : fiend

b

archaic : a great evil

4

: a person of notable energy, recklessness, and dashing spirit

also : one who is mischievous

those kids are little devils today

5

: fellow

—usually used in the phrases poor devil, lucky devil

6

a

: something very trying or provoking

having a devil of a time with this problem

b

: severe criticism or rebuke : hell

—used with the

I'll probably catch the devil for this

c

: the difficult, deceptive, or problematic part of something

the devil is in the details

7

: dust devil

8

Christian Science : the opposite of Truth : a belief in sin, sickness, and death : evil, error

devil

2 of 2

verb

deviled or devilled; deviling or devilling ˈde-və-liŋ 

ˈdev-liŋ

transitive verb

1

: to season highly

deviled eggs

2

: tease, annoy

Phrases

between the devil and the deep blue sea

: faced with two equally objectionable alternatives

devil to pay

: severe consequences

—used with the

there'll be the devil to pay if we're late

Synonyms

Noun

• archfiend
• Beelzebub
• fiend
• Lucifer
• Old Nick
• Satan
• serpent

Examples of devil in a Sentence

Noun

She is a tricky devil, so be careful.

Those kids can be little devils sometimes.

He's such a lucky devil that he'll probably win the lottery someday.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Crone’s killer: Naomi Cotton, to whom Amanda bared her soul a few days earlier and who is now turning the screws on Amanda to fulfill her side of this devil’s bargain. —Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024

The group's logo is a cartoon of a red devil wearing a large sombrero, a common stereotype of Mexican culture. —Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 5 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English devel, del, dule, going back to Old English dēofol, dīoful, going back to West Germanic *diuvul- (whence also Old Frisian diūvel, diōvel, Old Saxon diuƀal, Middle Dutch duvel, Old High German tiuval, tiufal), probably borrowed from an early Romance outcome of Late Latin diabolus "the Devil," borrowed from Greek diábolos (New Testament, Septuagint, as a rendering of Hebrew śāṭān satan), earlier, "accuser, backbiter, slanderer," agentive derivative of diabállein "to take across, put through, set at variance, attack (a person's character), accuse, slander," from dia- dia- + bállō, bállein "to reach by throwing, let fly, strike, put, place," going back to earlier *g^wəl-n-ō or *g^wəl-i̯-ō, perhaps going back to an Indo-European base *g^welh₁-

Note: The standard English pronunciation of devil with the outcome of a short vowel presumably reflects shortening of the Old English dipththong -ēo-/-īo- in syncopated forms, as the nominative plural dēoflas. The early Modern English form divel (as in Shakespeare), preserved in regional and dialectal speech in both Britain and the U.S., shows Middle English shortening of original ẹ̄ to i. Forms such as Middle English dele and early Scots dele show loss of v before a syllable ending in a liquid. — Greek bállein and its many prefixed forms are rich in nominal derivatives, usually with o-grade (as in diábolos, perhaps secondarily agentive, after the adjective diábolos "slanderous, backbiting") or with zero grade blē- (going back to *g^wl̥h₁-C-). That the original consonant was a labiovelar is assured by the Arcadian form esdellō, with e-grade, corresponding to Greek ekballō "expel, let fall." Despite its thoroughly Indo-European formal properties, bállein has no certain cognates outside Greek.

Verb

derivative of devil entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing devil

• a devil of
• a devil of a time
• be a devil
• better the devil you know than the devil you don't
• between the devil and the deep blue sea
• devil-may-care
• devil ray
• devil's advocate
• devil's claw
• devil's club
• devil's darning needle
• devil's food cake
• devil's ivy
• devil's lettuce
• devil's paintbrush
• devil theory
• devil to pay
• dust devil
• go-devil
• go to the devil
• like the devil
• lucky devil
• poor devil
• printer's devil
• sea devil
• sell one's soul (to the devil)
• speak/talk of the devil
• Tasmanian devil
• the devil

Kids Definition

devil

1 of 2 noun

dev·​il ˈdev-əl 

1

often capitalized : the personal supreme spirit of evil often represented as the ruler of hell

—often used with the as a mild oath or expression of surprise, irritation, or emphasis

2

: demon sense 2

3

a

: a person who is wicked, mischievous, reckless, or lively

b

: person sense 1

—usually used in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil

devil

2 of 2 verb

deviled or devilled; deviling or devilling ˈdev-(ə-)liŋ 

1

: to season highly

deviled eggs

2

: tease entry 1 sense 2a, annoy