devilish
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L188850 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L336004 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈdɛvəlɪʃ/ / /ˈdɛvɪlɪʃ/
adj
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”).
- Resembling a devil.
“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.”
“[C]urrently incarcerated Stinc Team members Ketchy the Great, SaySoTheMac, and Bambino; the devilish and gravelly Almighty Suspect; red-clad Inglewooder and headband connoisseur FreeAckrite; baby-faced Martin Luther King Park loiterer Johnny Rose; […]”
- Evil, wicked.
“For I abhore to smatter / Of one so deuyllysshe a matter.”
“[S]ome turne agayne by grace frõ their deadly hereſies into yͤ life of faith, ⁊ ſome be ſo ſore nowſeled in the falſe hereſies, ⁊ in their obſtinate frowardneſſe take ſuch a deueliſhe delight, yͭ finally thei die therin as did Baifield, Bainã, ⁊ Tewkeſbury.”
- Roguish or mischievous.
“a devilish grin”
“[S]he gave me that lovely devilish smile that said: I like liberty, and not necessarily accountability.”
- Excessive, extreme.
“A devilish effort yielded a devilish success.”
“I had a devilish time moving the wardrobe downstairs.”
adv
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”).
- Devilishly; very; exceedingly.
“It was devilish hot outside today.”
“Only I wish it had gone the other way for it's devilish awkward for me as it happens.”