Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to the devil; partaking of the qualities of the devil; devilish; hence, infernal; Impious; atrocious; outrageously wicked: as, a diabolic plot; a diabolical temper.
- Synonyms See list under devilish.
Wiktionary
- adj. Showing wickedness typical of a devil.
- adj. Extremely evil or cruel.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; befitting hell or satan; devilish; infernal; impious.
- adj. showing a wicked cunning or ingenuity.
- adj. extremely evil or cruel; atrocious; outrageously wicked.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil
- adj. extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell
Etymologies
- First attested between 1350 and 1400 from Middle English diabolik, from Middle French diabolique, from Late Latin diabolicus, from Ancient Greek διαβολικός (diabolikos, "devilish"), from διάβολος (diabolos, "devil"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“In her presence and before the whole household he repeated his false story, and clung to it with a bitter effrontery that we may well call diabolic, remembering how the nervous terror of punishment and exposure sinks the angel in man.”
“These examples are but typical of myriads in cathedrals and abbeys and parish churches throughout Europe; and all served to impress upon the popular mind a horror of everything called diabolic, and a hatred of those charged with it.”
A History of the warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
“But to accomplish this work, which we may also call diabolic, isn't an androgynous genius necessary?”
“In a very Screwtapian, that is to say diabolic irony, these nobler ideals are often the best disguise for our group selfishness, for we can thereby disguise our primitiveness even from ourselves.”
“My spell checker suggested this should be spelled "diabolic".”
“The word 'diabolic' itself derives from the Greek word diaballo meaning to "pass beyond" or "over", from the root dia - "through" and, as a causal accusative, "with the aid of".”
The Watcher: The New Zealand Voice of the Left Hand Path #10
“When we go to war, we have to have an evil enemy, a kind of diabolic enemy.”
“That's the kind of diabolic prevarication I like to see my followers use to attack my enemies.) "No doubt some far-left pundits have said far worse things than Ann Coulter will ever say and the mainstream media often celebrates them.”
“The tiny village of Baur came under attack in 1483 by âforces dark and overwhelming, â long postulated to be brigands or barbarians (though hidden histories mark the attackers as diabolic and certainly of fell origins).”
““Recently I discovered that to preserve their diabolic power, vampires must sleep during the day in the same unhallowed ground in which they had been buried.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘diabolic’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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Words without the letter E
chord, slur, anabaptist, anabolic, diabolic, turbid, torpid, somniloquist, trump, bipolar, dioxin, hydrocarbon and 107 more...
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Favorite adjectives - sinfully delici...
words that, when used in an unusual context, make you stop, stare, and read the sentence over and over again. LisaWrites - resource
sycophantic, doughface, unctuous, sebaceous, oleaginous, diabolic, ostent, sudatory, bulbous, pustule, bauble, trinket and 6 more...
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See list under
Being a list of words which have the phrase "see list under" somewhere in their definitions.
Also, further proof that the folks who put together the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia w...aggravate, exaggerate, abash, affliction, ponder, abject, dolorous, spelt, See list under, diabolic, apathy
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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bolics
shambolic, parabolic, anabolic, diabolical, diabolic, catabolic, symbolic, metabolic, hyperbolic, carbolic acid, amphibolic, ecbolic and 9 more...
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Cessilind's Words
dvorak, ingenuity, cessation, oblique, transverse, anvilicious, evoke, verisimilitude, integrity, strega, recumbent, depression and 164 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Eash's list
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xstala's Words
oneiric, inchoate, clandestine, tangerine, brusque, clout, benedictine, argonaut, juniper, tulle, zealot, vesper and 175 more...
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conceptwriter's Words
sloth, jackass, dickhead, technostalgic, futuristic, enigma, impact, addict, nasty, premium, extraordinaire, yearning and 262 more...
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Favorite Words
i love words.
ricochet, clavicle, etymology, equivocate, decoupage, dillydally, effervescent, flimflam, haberdashery, hullabaloo, debacle, juxtapose and 210 more...
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Gotim
Aries, fire, chaos, destruction, Mars, aggression, bold, competetive, conflict, raw, black, red and 165 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL D
dais, dalliance, dank, daunt, daunting, dawdled, dearth, debacle, debase, debauchery, debilitate, debonair and 141 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for diabolic.
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