devilish

English

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”).

Pronunciation

enPR: dĕvʹəl, IPA^(key): /ˈdɛvəlɪʃ/, /ˈdɛvɪlɪʃ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)

Adjective

devilish (comparative more devilish, superlative most devilish)

Resembling a devil.
- c. 1587–1588, [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:
  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.
Characteristic of a devil.
a devilish grin
- 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter III, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC, pages 43–44:
  The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew.
(informal) Extreme, excessive.
A devilish effort yielded a devilish success.

Synonyms

(resembling a devil): atrocious, demoniac, deuced, diabolic, evil, fiendish, ghoulish, malicious, mischievous, nefarious, ogreish, reprobate, unhallowed, wicked
(characteristic of a devil): demonic, diabolic, diabolical, hellish, infernal, satanic, satanical
(extreme): excessive, extreme.

Derived terms

Translations

resembling or characteristic of a devil

Belarusian: чарто́ўскі (čartóŭski), д'я́бальскі (dʺjábalʹski), сатані́нскі (satanínski)
Bulgarian: дя́волски (bg) (djávolski), сатани́нски (bg) (satanínski)
Catalan: diabòlic
Chinese:
Mandarin: 惡魔般的／恶魔般的 (èmóbān de)
Danish: djævelsk
Dutch: duivels (nl), diabolisch (nl), satanisch (nl)
French: diabolique (fr)
German: teuflisch (de)
Greek: διαβολικός (el) (diavolikós)
Hebrew: שטני (he) m (staní)
Hungarian: ördögi (hu), sátáni (hu)
Italian: diabolico (it)
Japanese: 悪魔的 (akumateki), 残忍 (ja) (zannin)
Norwegian: djevelsk
Old East Slavic: диꙗвольскꙑи (dijavolĭskyi)
Plautdietsch: diewlisch
Polish: diabelski (pl) m, diaboliczny (pl)
Portuguese: diabólico (pt)
Quechua: millaymana
Russian: дья́вольский (ru) (dʹjávolʹskij), чёртовый (ru) (čórtovyj), черто́вский (ru) (čertóvskij), сатани́нский (ru) (satanínskij)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ђаволаст, враголаст

Roman: đavolast (sh), vragolast (sh)
Spanish: diabólico
Swedish: djävulsk (sv), diabolisk (sv)
Ukrainian: чортя́чий (čortjáčyj), дия́вольський (dyjávolʹsʹkyj), сатани́нський (satanýnsʹkyj)

extreme, excessive

Bulgarian: голям (bg) (goljam), страхотен (bg) (strahoten)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 非常 (zh) (fēicháng)
Dutch: deksels (nl), duivels (nl), verduiveld (nl)
French: infernal (fr), diabolique (fr)
German: teuflisch (de)
Hungarian: pokoli (hu), állati (hu)
Japanese: 非常 (ja) (hijō)
Portuguese: extremo (pt)
Russian: черто́вский (ru) (čertóvskij), дья́вольский (ru) (dʹjávolʹskij), а́дский (ru) (ádskij), стра́шный (ru) (strášnyj)
Swedish: djävlig (sv), jävlig (sv), djävulsk (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: ^{(please verify)} diabolico (it)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 악마 같은 (angma gateun)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} diabólico

Adverb

devilish (comparative more devilish, superlative most devilish)

(informal, dated) Devilishly; very; exceedingly.
It was devilish hot outside today.

Translations

devilishly — see devilishly

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