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DEVILISH
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil
Example:
a mephistophelian glint in his eye
Synonyms:
devilish; diabolic; diabolical; mephistophelean; mephistophelian
Classified under:
Similar:
evil (morally bad or wrong)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Playful in an appealingly bold way
Example:
a roguish grin
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
playful (full of fun and high spirits)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In a playfully devilish manner
Example:
the socialists are further handicapped if they believe that capitalists are not only wicked but also devilishly clever
Synonyms:
devilish; devilishly
Classified under:
Context examples:
You are devilish strong.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
His eyes flamed red with devilish passion; the great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge; and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, champed together like those of a wild beast.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Not but that I shall be down again by the end of a fortnight, and a devilish long fortnight it will appear to me.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
He said it was no derogation from a man's dignity to confess that I was a devilish good fellow.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I gnashed my teeth upon him with a gust of devilish fury; and the smile withered from his face—happily for him—yet more happily for myself, for in another instant I had certainly dragged him from his perch.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there; the pointed teeth, the bloodstained, voluptuous mouth—which it made one shudder to see—the whole carnal and unspiritual appearance, seeming like a devilish mockery of Lucy's sweet purity.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I propose, said Mr. Micawber, Bills—a convenience to the mercantile world, for which, I believe, we are originally indebted to the Jews, who appear to me to have had a devilish deal too much to do with them ever since—because they are negotiable.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
