“the devil you know”

We have one entry that includes the term the devil you know.

better the devil you know than the devil you don't

idiom

—used to say that it is better to deal with a difficult person or situation one knows than with a new person or situation that could be worse

See the full definition

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fidelity

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

Challenging Words You Should Know

  • hedgehog reading a book
  • Often used to describe “the march of time,” what does inexorable mean?
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.

Pick the best words!

PLAY
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
pastel colored puzzle piece speech bubbles with shadows
Quiz: Find the Missing Link Figure out the word that fits both halves of the ...
See All