variants
or diabolic
as in demonic
of, relating to, or worthy of an evil spirit
the police quickly mobilized to track down the diabolical criminals before they struck again
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Recent Examples of diabolical
The death of medieval theocratic dictator of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei--a diabolical fanatic who pursued nuclear weapons--is a moment of celebration.
—
Arkansas Online, 3 Mar. 2026
And in the end, it was proven that diabolical deception really can take you far, as Traitor Rob Rausch was crowned the sole winner.
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 26 Feb. 2026
On the first night of the diabolical competition show, contestants sat around another iconic table in The Traitors universe—the round table—while Cumming repeatedly circled, and then tapped on a few shoulders.
—Alison McDermott, Architectural Digest, 19 Feb. 2026
As for why the vote in congressional races has tended to shift in Democrats’ favor, there’s a simple, non-diabolical explanation.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for diabolical
Arkansas Online, 3 Mar. 2026
And in the end, it was proven that diabolical deception really can take you far, as Traitor Rob Rausch was crowned the sole winner.
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 26 Feb. 2026
On the first night of the diabolical competition show, contestants sat around another iconic table in The Traitors universe—the round table—while Cumming repeatedly circled, and then tapped on a few shoulders.
—Alison McDermott, Architectural Digest, 19 Feb. 2026
As for why the vote in congressional races has tended to shift in Democrats’ favor, there’s a simple, non-diabolical explanation.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for diabolical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diabolical
Adjective
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The second is the Jinu Demon foil card from the Saja Boys Breakfast Meal, which shows the popular male character in his demonic form.—
Jason Hidalgo,
The Providence Journal,
6 Apr. 2026
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If new-age music is angelic but unbeholden to any religious dogma, Sunn O))) is demonic in the same way.—
Daniel Bromfield,
Pitchfork,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Noblezada stepped into the role of the tragically vivacious nightclub singer Sally Bowles, but rather than playing her unlikely lover Cliff, Carney was cast as the impishly sinister Emcee of the Kit Kat Club.—
Carey Purcell,
Vogue,
8 Apr. 2026
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Distracted balances its celeb soiree with Southern California’s sinister edge, the malaise and monotony that can make sunny days so alienating.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
Pitchfork,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In worst-case scenarios, malicious code can exploit weaknesses in your phone, create backdoor access and pull in even more data without your knowledge.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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Over a four-week period starting on December 12, Black Lotus observed more than 290,000 distinct IP addresses sending at least one DNS request to the malicious APT28 DNS resolver.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Diabolical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diabolical. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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