fiend

noun \ ˈfēnd \

Updated on: 13 May 2018

Definition of fiend

1 a : devil 1

b : demon

c : a person of great wickedness or maliciousness

2 : a person extremely devoted to a pursuit or study : fanatic

a golf fiend

3 : addict 1

a dope fiend

4 : wizard 3

a fiend at mathematics

See fiend defined for English-language learners

See fiend defined for kids

Examples of fiend in a Sentence

His hands were trembling, actually trembling, as if he were some sort of coffee fiend or something. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville, 1993
Wodehouse may not have liked Dickens, but he certainly read him. He read like a fiend. —Christopher Hitchens, Times Literary Supplement, 7-13 Sept. 1990
The shameless effrontery of the fiend, at the café, pretending to forget all he had done to her, begging to take up with her again, as if nothing had happened between them a dozen years ago. —Irving Wallace, The Plot, 1967
a fiend in human form
He's a real golf fiend.

Recent Examples of fiend from the Web

Basketballs:My children are fiends for them outside, so my brilliant idea was to take mashed sweet potato and roll it into little veggie basketballs.

— Redbook, "6 Ways to Trick Your Picky Eater into Trying New Foods," 28 June 2011
But this Friday he will be joined by tokers, potheads and dope fiends across the nation (especially folks in Denver) celebrating another 4/20 — the pot holiday with hazy origins that seems to get more popular every year.

— editors, USA TODAY, "Barbara Bush viewing, gun violence protests and 4/20: 5 things to know Friday," 20 Apr. 2018
With locations all over the country, little Lego fiends will build away, nary a dodgeball or game of capture the flag in sight.

— emily matchar, Smithsonian, "Ten Summer Camps For Little Innovators," 4 Apr. 2018
Bonus time: Jones is a sneaker fiend as has a collection of more than 40 pairs of shoes.

— danielle lerner, The Courier-Journal, "You better know these names. Meet Louisville basketball's starting five for the Final Four," 27 Mar. 2018
In his international play, Saric was a dancing, fist pumping, roof raising fiend, but has been mostly subdued in his celebratory moments with the Sixers.

— sarah todd, Philly.com, "Sixers 123, Nuggets 104: Dario Saric makes his mark, and Markelle Fultz returns as Sixers extend win streak," 26 Mar. 2018
Here are the latest tweets for caffeine fiends — follow @usatodayeats for more crave-inducing updates on food and drink.

— usa today network, USA TODAY, "This week in food and drink: Cafes, coffee and tea," 10 Mar. 2018
Designed for 10-year-olds, the little buggy is a $5,000 gateway drug for dirt fiends.

— kyle stock, Bloomberg.com, "Polaris Thinks the People Want a $28,000 Dune Buggy," 6 Mar. 2018
With rare exception, every guy who strolls onto Graham's set is a fiend.

— amy nicholson, chicagotribune.com, "'Half Magic' review: Heather Graham casts a spell in her writing-directing debut," 22 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fiend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.