devilish
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: dĕvʹəl
ipa: /ˈdɛvəlɪʃ/
ipa: /ˈdɛvɪlɪʃ/
Forms: form: more devilish
form: most devilish
Etymology: From Middle English develissh, develyssh, equivalent to devil + -ish. Cognate with Saterland Frisian düvelsk, düüwelsk (“devilish”), West Frisian duvelsk (“devilish”), Dutch duivels (“devilish”), German Low German düvelsk (“devilish”), German teuflisch (“devilish”), Danish djævelsk (“devilish”), Swedish djävulsk (“devilish”),
Norwegian djevelsk (“devilish”).
Senses: examples: text: Let vs put on our meet incountering mindes, / And in deteſting ſuch a diueliſh Thiefe, / In loue of honor and defence of right / Be arm’d againſt the hate of ſuch a foe, / Whether from earth, or hell, or heauen he grow.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi, signature [B7], recto:
text: […] currently incarcerated Stinc Team members Ketchy the Great, SaySoTheMac, and Bambino; the devilish and gravelly Almighty Suspect; red-clad Inglewooder and headband connoisseur FreeAckrite; baby-faced Martin Luther King Park loiterer Johnny Rose; […]
ref: 2019 February 5, Torii MacAdams, “The New Generation of LA Rap Is Changing Everything”, in VICE:
glosses: Resembling a devil.
examples: text: [S]ome turne agayne by grace frõ their deadly hereſies into yͤ life of faith, ⁊ ſome be ſo ſore nowſeled in the falſe hereſies, ⁊ in their obſtinate frowardneſſe take ſuch a deueliſhe delight, yͭ finally thei die therin as did Baifield, Bainã, ⁊ Tewkeſbury.
ref: 1532, Thomas More, “The Confutacion of [William] Tyndale’s Aunswere […]. The Maner and Order of Our Eleccion.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, page 587, columns 1–2:
text: [...] devilish cruelty - for devilish cruelty it was, as three or four drivers armed with whips, lingered up and down the slowly-staggering file of Indians, and avenged every moment's lagging, even every stumble, by a blow of the cruel [whips].
ref: 1880, Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho!, Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight: In the Reign of Her Most Glorious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, page 383:
text: [...] the devilish destructiveness of modern conventional weapons and the need for future Saddam-busters to control their spread. (Think of the damage that a Saddam with longer-range missiles, cleverer warheads and better defences [could do].
ref: 1991, The Economist:
glosses: Wicked, evil.
examples: text: a devilish grin
text: "[…]" remarked Bernadette, as I looked at her, and she gave me that lovely devilish smile that said : I like liberty, and not necessarily accountability. And evidently, […]
ref: 2009 12, Dennis L. Siluk Ed.D., A Leaf and a Rose (A Paris-Munich Romance-Novelette): vol. III, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 41:
glosses: Roguish or mischievous.
examples: text: A devilish effort yielded a devilish success.
text: I had a devilish time moving the wardrobe downstairs.
glosses: Extreme, excessive.
Synonyms: sense: resembling a devil
word: atrocious
sense: resembling a devil
word: demoniac
sense: resembling a devil
word: deuced
sense: resembling a devil
word: diabolic
sense: resembling a devil
word: evil
sense: resembling a devil
word: fiendish
sense: resembling a devil
word: ghoulish
sense: resembling a devil
word: malicious
sense: resembling a devil
word: mischievous
sense: resembling a devil
word: nefarious
sense: resembling a devil
word: ogreish
sense: resembling a devil
word: reprobate
sense: resembling a devil
word: unhallowed
sense: resembling a devil
word: wicked
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: demonic
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: diabolic
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: diabolical
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: hellish
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: infernal
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: satanic
sense: characteristic of a devil
word: satanical
sense: extreme
word: excessive
sense: extreme
word: extreme
Derived terms: devilishly
devilishness
undevilish