devil

CEFRB1

/ˈdɛvəl/

noun · name

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An evil spirit believed to oppose God in some religions.

  2. 02

    noun

    A cruel or troublesome person.

Examples

  • Speak of the devil, here comes Kathy.

  • Talk of devil, and he's presently at your elbow.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈdɛvəl] ~ [ˈdɛvl̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A man with red or orange skin and a pair of horns on his head, a pointed goatee, and a long tail, who carries a pitchfork, represents evil, and is portrayed to children as a boogeyman who punishes bad behavior.

  2. An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.

name

Extra meaning

  1. The chief devil; Satan.

More examples

In context

  • The director cast me as the devil.

  • The devil in me wants to let him suffer.

  • Those two kids are devils in a toy store.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

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The old painting depicted a red blank with horns and a long tail.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, from Proto-West Germanic *diubul, from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German...