Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To torment mercilessly; plague.
- v. To worry, annoy, or frustrate.
- v. To possess with or as if with a devil; bewitch.
- v. To spoil; ruin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To treat with diabolical violence or abuse.
- To possess with or as with a devil.
- To “play the devil with”; transform or confuse as if by the aid or agency of evil spirits; confound; muddle; corrupt; spoil.
- To bewilder with worry; torment; bother; confuse.
- To make a devil or devils of; bring into the condition of a devil: as, to bedevil mankind.
Wiktionary
- v. To harass or cause trouble for; to plague.
- v. To perplex or bewilder.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To throw into utter disorder and confusion, as if by the agency of evil spirits; to bring under diabolical influence; to torment.
- v. To spoil; to corrupt.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
- v. treat cruelly
Etymologies
- be- + devil (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Parker to try to "bedevil" Cape Town's Olympic bid chances with his threats, NP sport spokesman Nick Koornhof said on Wednesday.”
“What we really do all have is a daily reprieve from the things that "bedevil" us.”
“bedevil" government's privatisation plans, industrial relations and human resources company NMG-Levy said on Wednesday.”
“It is a subject that knows no bounds or time limits, and the demands of the role continue to bedevil women who assume it.”
The Huffington Post: Cherie Burns: Stepmotherhood Never Ends
“But on the big questions that bedevil society and require careful collaboration between and across business and government, business is largely MIA.”
“The fear: Rising prices will bedevil Indian central bankers, the way they did back in early 2008 when a global food crisis hit the rupee.”
The Wall Street Journal: Euro, Pound Face Growing Inflation Threat
“Gwyneth Paltrow deserves better than the clich é s that bedevil "Country Strong," which was written and directed by Shana Feste.”
“You are also entitled to bedevil your contributions to this blog with a wide variety of spelling, grammatical and other non-typo errors which betray various things about you and by which you may be judged … should you wish to. on April 2, 2010 at 12: 24 am Vetnurse”
“But many of the mistakes and difficulties that bedevil businesses are related to people issues.”
“The prospect of so-called carrier sharing has already raised criticisms that could bedevil other aspects of Tuesday's deal.”
The Wall Street Journal: U.K., France Move Closer on Defense
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bedevil’.
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Belistful
Tubey or not tubey.
belittle, bedazzle, besiege, besmirch, bespeckle, beget, bemoan, befuddle, befriend, become, besot, becloud and 596 more...
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my GRE words
pedant, wizened, histrionic, logorrhea, frenetic, approbation, quibble, knell, acclivity, droog, prevarication, aplomb and 182 more...
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The New Yorker
prejudice, ignominious, quintessence, disparity, vanguard, repudiated, eclectic, dredge, taxonomy, pugnacious, surreptitiously, pudgy and 113 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, B
bloviate, bejesus, brouhaha, behoove, bodacious, bamboozle, banshee, bub, bolus, blob, bubbly, bleb and 414 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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conglomeration
wherewithal, wan, zoonotic, zoonosis, nebulous, nefarious, nascent, quiescent, quell, undercroft, unwitting, unutterable and 658 more...
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Annsley's list
churlish, bibulous, salt, salty, conjugal, fabulist, maw, primordial, chimera, emetic, surly, excrescence and 228 more...
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Crookery
shylock, mulct, gyp, fleece, bilk, bamboozle, hornswoggle, hoodwink, flimflam, guile, pawky, hijinx and 32 more...
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b!
baffle, boggle, befuddle, brummagem, bamboozled, brash, blaze, Bacchanalia, badinage, bandy, bliss, bemused and 36 more...
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New words from Reading
woe, kingmaker, tizzy, lark, verity, marzipan, swoon, chutzpah, quiescence, curlicue, bedevil, quixotic and 69 more...
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My Favorite Words
List of my favorite words.
psychedelic, paroxysm, brazen, pragmatic, albeit, asinine, lucubratory, ominous, verisimilitude, vicissitude, timocracy, plutocracy and 13 more...
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