variants
or devilling
as in tormenting
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deviling
Verb
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Those mistakes neutralized some exciting attacking play from Austin FC, which spent the 90 minutes tormenting Minnesota United down the left flank.—
David Eckert,
Austin American Statesman,
21 Feb. 2026 -
While the dogs are now safe with foster families, Holmes faces multiple charges, including confining an animal without sufficient food or water, keeping animals in an enclosure without exercise or air, and tormenting or depriving an animal.—
Nikiya Carrero,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But so often left unsaid by Gu are the moral ambiguities that come with choosing to represent a country that has been heavily criticized by Human Rights Watch, among other watchdog groups, for denying rights of freedom of expression and for persecuting government critics.—
Zak Keefer,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2026
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Troops are occupying our cities and persecuting our people.—
Maria Guinnip,
Oklahoman,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Picking up a drumstick and gnawing it clean, past the cartilage and down to the bone, was accepted without a second look.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Jan. 2026
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But on Monday, there was only that pit-of-your-stomach gnawing concoction of disappointment, frustration and emptiness that foments when a chance for history is squandered.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This is just the latest in a string of shellfish heists bedeviling the Northeast where lobster, crabs, and oysters have gone missing in recent weeks.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
31 Dec. 2025
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There is a gaping hole in weather balloon coverage in western Alaska — a critical shortage bedeviling US forecasts and the National Weather Service since layoffs hit the agency as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s push to shrink the federal government back in February.—
Andrew Freedman,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Despite losing to Georgia in the conference championship game, DeBoer's Crimson Tide earned one of this year's 12 CFP spots, potentially riling up coaches and fans from other programs who felt their teams got snubbed.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
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Jaxson de Ville is riling up supporters via pub crawl.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Offshore Data Centers Face Challenges Aikido’s plan avoids the prickly not-in-my-backyard complaints that are dogging both onshore wind and data-center projects.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
3 Mar. 2026
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Stocks had a rough session Friday on the worries about AI hurting the economy that have been dogging the market for weeks.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Anderson argues this, beautifully and preemptively, in her piece on 2019’s vexing Ad Astra.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Mar. 2026
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In Hjorth’s recent books, these vexing others are not romantic partners but members of the narrator’s original nuclear family.—
Elaine Blair,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But Johnson recalled how in 2024 Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed undocumented people to work at public universities, rankling activists.—
Andrew Graham,
Sacbee.com,
15 Feb. 2026
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But when Russia invaded Ukraine, South Africa repeatedly abstained from United Nations votes on the war—rankling officials in Washington.—
Richard Fontaine,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Deviling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deviling. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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