Adjacent Words

bedevil definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher" [syn: torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate]
2: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher" [syn: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Date: 1574 1. to possess with or as if with a devil 2. to cause distress ; trouble 3. to change for the worse ; spoil 4. to confuse utterly ; bewilder • bedevilment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (bedevilled, bedevilling; US bedeviled, bedeviling) 1 plague; afflict. 2 confound; confuse. 3 possess as if with a devil; bewitch. 4 treat with diabolical violence or abuse. Derivatives: bedevilment n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bedevil Be*dev"il, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bedevilled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedeviling or Bedevilling.] 1. To throw into utter disorder and confusion, as if by the agency of evil spirits; to bring under diabolical influence; to torment. Bedeviled and used worse than St. Bartholomew. --Sterne. 2. To spoil; to corrupt. --Wright.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bedevils, bedevilling, bedevilled) Note: in AM, use 'bedeviling', 'bedeviled' If you are bedevilled by something unpleasant, it causes you a lot of problems over a period of time. (FORMAL) His career was bedevilled by injury. ...a problem that has bedevilled service industries for decades. = beset VERB: be V-ed, V n

Moby Thesaurus

aggravate, annoy, badger, bait, be at, beset, bewitch, bother, bristle, brown off, bug, bullyrag, burn up, chivy, demonize, devil, devilize, diabolize, discompose, distemper, disturb, dog, exasperate, exercise, fash, get, gripe, harass, harry, heckle, hector, hex, hoodoo, hound, irk, jinx, miff, molest, nag, needle, nettle, nudzh, obsess, overlook, peeve, persecute, pester, pick on, pique, plague, pluck the beard, possess, pother, provoke, ride, rile, roil, ruffle, tantalize, tease, torment, try the patience, tweak the nose, vex, voodoo, witch, worry