Definitions for DEVILˈdɛv əl

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word DEVIL

Princeton's WordNet



  2. devil, fiend, demon, daemon, daimon(noun)

    an evil supernatural being

  3. devil, deuce, dickens(noun)

    a word used in exclamations of confusion


  4. hellion, heller, devil(noun)

    a rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man)

    "he chased the young hellions out of his yard"

  5. monster, fiend, devil, demon, ogre(verb)

    a cruel wicked and inhuman person


    cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations


  7. devil(verb)

    coat or stuff with a spicy paste

    "devilled eggs"


  1. devil(Noun)

    A creature of hell.

  2. devil(Noun)


  3. devil(Noun)


  4. devil(Noun)


  5. devil(Noun)

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

  6. devil(Noun)


  7. devil(Noun)


  8. devil(Noun)

    A dust devil.

  9. devil(Noun)

    An evil or erroneous entity.

  10. devil(Verb)

    To annoy or bother; to bedevil.

  11. devil(Verb)

    To work as a u2018devilu2019; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.

  12. devil(Verb)

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

  13. devil(Verb)

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

  14. devil(Verb)

    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.

  15. devil(Noun)

    barren, unproductive and unused, as in devil strip.

  16. Devil(ProperNoun)

    The chief devil; Satan.

  17. Origin: From deofol, from διάβολος, also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שטן, satán), from διαβάλλω, literally “to throw across”, from διά + βάλλω. The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Dutch duivel, Low German düvel, German Teufel, Swedish djävul (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull).

Webster Dictionary

  1. Devil(noun)

    the Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind

  2. Devil(noun)

    an evil spirit; a demon

  3. Devil(noun)

    a very wicked person; hence, any great evil

  4. Devil(noun)

    an expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation

  5. Devil(noun)


  6. Devil(noun)

    a machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc

  7. Devil(verb)

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

  8. Devil(verb)

    to grill with Cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper

  9. Origin: [AS. defol, deful; akin to G. eufel, Goth. diabalus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. the devil, the slanderer, fr. to slander, calumniate, orig., to throw across; across + to throw, let fall, fall; cf. Skr. gal to fall. Cf. Diabolic.]


  1. Devil

    The Devil is believed in many religions, myths and cultures to be a supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly, ranging from being an effective opposite force to the creator god, locked in an eons long struggle for human souls on what may seem even terms, to being a comical figure of fun or an abstract aspect of the individual human condition. While mainstream Judaism contains no overt concept of a devil, Christianity and Islam have variously regarded the Devil as a rebellious fallen angel or demon that tempts humans to sin, if not commit evil deeds himself. In these religions – particularly during periods of division or external threat – the Devil has assumed more of a dualistic status commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers. As such, the Devil is seen as an allegory that represents a crisis of faith, individualism, free will, wisdom and enlightenment. In mainstream Christianity, God and the Devil are usually portrayed as fighting over the souls of humans, with the Devil seeking to lure people away from God and into Hell. The Devil commands a force of evil spirits, commonly known as demons. The Hebrew Bible describes the Adversary as an angel who instigates tests upon humankind. Many other religions have a trickster or tempter figure that is similar to the Devil. Modern conceptions of the Devil include the concept that it symbolizes humans' own lower nature or sinfulness.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Devil

    dev′l, v.t. (cook.) to season highly and broil.—v.i. to perform another man's drudgery (esp. to devil for a barrister).

  2. Devil

    dev′l, n. the supreme spirit of evil, Satan: any evil spirit: a false god: a very wicked person: a fellow, as in 'Poor devil:' an expletive, in 'What the devil,' &c.—ns. Dev′ildom; Dev′iless; Dev′ilet; Dev′il-fish, a name for the fishing-frog or angler, for the giant-ray of the United States, and for other large and ugly fishes; Dev′il-in-the-bush, a garden flower, also called Love-in-a-mist.—adj. Dev′ilish, fiendish, malignant.—adv. (coll.) very: exceedingly.—adv. Dev′ilishly.—ns. Dev′ilism; Dev′ilkin.—adj. Dev′il-may-care, reckless, audacious.—ns. Dev′ilment; Dev′il-on-the-neck, an old instrument of torture; Dev′ilry; Dev′ilship; Dev′iltry; Dev′il-wor′ship, the worship of the devil, or of devils; Dev′il-wor′shipper.—Devil a bit, not at all; Devil of a mess, a very bad mess.—Devil's advocate, a name given to the Promoter of the Faith, an advocate at the papal court, whose duty it is to propose all reasonable objections against a person's claims to canonisation; Devil's bit, a popular name for scabious; Devil's books, playing-cards; Devil's coach-horse, a large dark-coloured beetle; Devil's dozen, thirteen (like baker's dozen); Devil's dung, a popular name for asafœtida; Devil's dust, shoddy made by a machine called the devil; Devil's own, a name given to the 88th Regiment in the Peninsular war, as also to the Inns of Court volunteers; Devil's snuff-box, the puff-ball, a kind of fungus; Devil's tattoo (see Tattoo); Devil to pay, serious trouble ahead—said to be from the difficulty of paying, or caulking, an awkward and inaccessible seam in a ship.—Cartesian devil (see Cartesian); Printer's devil, the youngest apprentice in a printing-office: a printer's errand-boy; Tasmanian devil, the ursine dasyure, a Tasmanian carnivore.—Play the devil with, to bring to utter ruin. [A.S. deóful, deófol—L. diabolus—Gr. diabolos, from diaballein, to throw across, to slander, from dia, across, and ballein, to throw; cf. Ger. teufel, Fr. diable, It. diavolo, Sp. diablo.]

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. devil

    A god who has been bounced for conduct unbecoming a gentleman.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. DEVIL

    An old rascal mentioned in the Bible, now reported engaged to Mary McLane.

British National Corpus

  1. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'DEVIL' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3675

  2. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'DEVIL' in Nouns Frequency: #1855


  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of DEVIL in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of DEVIL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Sample Sentences & Example Usage

  1. Flip Wilson:

    The devil made me do it!

  2. Kedar Joshi:

    In hell, the Devil is God.

  3. Remy Nathan:

    The devil's in the details.

  4. Italian Proverb:

    Speak of the devil and he appears.

  5. Proverb:

    The Devil finds work for idle hands.

Images & Illustrations of DEVIL

Translations for DEVIL

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for DEVIL »


Find a translation for the DEVIL definition in other languages:

Select another language:

Discuss these DEVIL definitions with the community:

Word of the Day


Please enter your email address:     


Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:


"DEVIL." STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 25 Jul 2016. <>.

Are we missing a good definition for DEVIL? Don't keep it to yourself...

Nearby & related entries:

Alternative searches for DEVIL:

Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support.