Etymology

From , from , also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שטן, satán), from ‘to slander’, literally ‘to throw across’, from ‘through, across’ + ‘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 Dutch duivel, German Teufel, Swedish djävul (older: djefvul).

Noun

1. A creature of hell.
2. (the devil or the Devil) The chief devil; Satan.
3. The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
   • The devil in me wants to let him suffer.
4. A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
   • Those two kids are devils in a toy store.
5. A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
   • That math problem was a devil.
6. Hell.
   • What in the devil is that? What the devil is that?
   • She is having a devil of a time fixing it.
   • You can go to the devil for all I care.
7. A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
8. A dust devil.
9. An evil or erroneous entity.
10. barren, unproductive and unused, as in .

Synonyms

• (a creature of hell): demon
• (the chief devil): Satan, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Old Nick, Old Scratch (UK & US), old-gooseberry, old gentleman
• (thing awkward or difficult to understand or do): bastard, bitch, bugger (UK), stinker
• (wicked or naughty person): imp, rascal, scamp, scoundrel
• (as a euphemistic intensifier): deuce (euphemistic), dickens (euphemistic), fuck (only in senses with the; taboo slang), heck, hell
• (a person, especially a man (as in "poor devil")): bugger (UK), cow (used of a woman), sod (UK)

Antonyms

angel, god God angel, conscience cakewalk (US), piece of cake, simplicity itself angel, saint

Verb

1. To annoy or bother; to bedevil.
2. To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
3. To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.
4. To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yokes are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.
   • She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.

Usage notes

• UK usage doubles the l in the inflected forms "devilled" and "devilling"; US usage generally does not.

Synonyms

• (annoy or bother): annoy, bedevil, bother, irk, irritate, pester, trouble, peeve