devil

noun

(theology) The chief devil; Satan.

(theology) An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.

(folklore) A fictional image of a man, usually red or orange in skin color; with a set of horns on his head, a pointed goatee and a long tail and carrying a pitchfork; that represents evil and portrayed to children in an effort to discourage bad behavior.

A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.

The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.

A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.

A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.

(euphemistic, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell.

(cooking) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.

(cycling, slang) An endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.

A Tasmanian devil.

A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc., as used in the production of mungo or shoddy.

(India) A poltergeist that haunts printing works.

A printer's assistant.

A dust devil.

(nautical) Ellipsis of devil seam (“the seam between garboard strake and the keel, on wooden boats”). [(nautical, shipbuilding) A particularly difficult seam to caulk on a ship's hull, specifically the curved seam where the deck planking meets the side of the ship, near the scupper gutters.]

(dialectal, in compounds) A barren, unproductive and unused area.

verb

To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.

To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:

To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.

To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yolks are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.

To ghostwrite; to author while working as a ‘devil’.

(intransitive) To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.

To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.

To annoy or bother.

To shred fabric into its fibres for recycling, as in the production of mungo or shoddy.

Roots

diabolosdevil- · Greek · slanderer, devil

Synonyms for devil

demonn hellionn fiendn lucifern hellkite monstern cacodemonn hellhoundn afreet succubusn

Synonyms & related words for devil

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of devil — including demon, hellion, fiend, lucifer, hellkite, monster. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to devil

Explore words related to devil — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include devilkin, devilishness, satanical, daemon, demonism, daimon, diabolize, devilment. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for devil

Common synonyms for devil include demon, hellion, fiend, lucifer, hellkite, monster, cacodemon, hellhound — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does devil come from?

The word devil breaks down into one root of Greek origin: the root devil-, from Greek diabolos (“slanderer, devil”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.