devil
noun /ˈdevl/
/ˈdevl/
Idioms - the Devil(in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions) the most powerful evil being synonym Satan
- belief in the Devil
- His strong left-wing views make him the devil incarnate to more extreme Conservatives.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + devil- believe in
- worship
- be possessed by
- …
- worship
- worshipper
- the devil incarnate
- an evil spirit
- They believed she was possessed by devils.
- He behaved like someone possessed by devils.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + devil- believe in
- worship
- be possessed by
- …
- worship
- worshipper
- the devil incarnate
- (informal) a person who behaves badly, especially a child
- a naughty little devil
- (old-fashioned, informal) used to talk about somebody and to emphasize an opinion that you have of them
- I miss the old devil, now that he's gone.
- She's off to Greece for a month—lucky devil!
- James was a handsome devil and rich, too.
- They were handsome young devils in their uniforms, weren't they?
see also dust devil
Word OriginOld English dēofol (related to Dutch duivel and German Teufel), via late Latin from Greek diabolos ‘accuser, slanderer’ (used in the Septuagint to translate Hebrew śāṭān ‘Satan’), from diaballein ‘to slander’, from dia ‘across’ + ballein ‘to throw’.
Idioms
be a devil
- (British English) people say Be a devil! to encourage somebody to do something that they are not sure about doing
- Go on, be a devil, buy both of them.
better the devil you know (than the devil you don’t)
- (saying) used to say that it is easier and wiser to stay in a bad situation that you know and can deal with rather than change to a new situation that may be much worse
between the devil and the deep blue sea
- in a difficult situation where there are two equally unpleasant or unacceptable choices Topics Preferences and decisionsc2
the devil
- (old-fashioned) very difficult or unpleasant
- These berries are the devil to pick because they're so small.
the devil looks after his own
- (saying) bad people often seem to have good luck
the devil makes work for idle hands
- (saying) people who do not have enough to do often start to do wrong
- She blamed the crimes on the local jobless teenagers. ‘The devil makes work for idle hands,’ she would say.
a devil of a job/time
- (old-fashioned) a very difficult or unpleasant job or time
- I've had a devil of a job finding you.
the devil/hell to pay
- (informal) a lot of trouble
- There'll be hell to pay when he finds out.
go to the devil!
- (old-fashioned, informal) used, in an unfriendly way, to tell somebody to go away
like the devil
- (old-fashioned, informal) very hard, fast, etc.
- We ran like the devil.
sell your soul (to the devil)
- to do anything, even something really bad or dishonest, in return for money, success or powerTopics Successc2
speak/talk of the devil
- (informal) people say speak/talk of the devil when somebody they have been talking about appears unexpectedly
- Well, speak of the devil—here's Alice now!
what, where, who, why, etc. the devil…
- (old-fashioned) used in questions to show that you are annoyed or surprised
- What the devil do you think you're doing?