Adjacent Words

Diabolical definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIABOLIC, DIABOLICAL, a. [L., the devil.] Devilish; pertaining to the devil; hence, extremely malicious; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; partaking of any quality ascribed to the devil; as a diabolical temper; a diabolical scheme or action.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil; "devilish schemes"; "the cold calculation and diabolic art of some statesmen"; "the diabolical expression on his face"; "a mephistophelian glint in his eye" [syn: devilish, diabolic, diabolical, mephistophelian, mephistophelean]
2: extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell; "something demonic in him--something that could be cruel"; "fires lit up a diabolic scene"; "diabolical sorcerers under the influence of devils"; "a fiendish despot"; "hellish torture"; "infernal instruments of war"; "satanic cruelty"; "unholy grimaces" [syn: demonic, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, hellish, infernal, satanic, unholy]

Merriam Webster's

or diabolic adjective Etymology: Middle English deabolik, from Middle French diabolique, from Late Latin diabolicus, from diabolus Date: 14th century of, relating to, or characteristic of the devil ; devilish <a diabolical plot> • diabolically adverb • diabolicalness noun

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Diabolic Di`a*bol"ic, Diabolical Di`a*bol"ic*al, a. [L. diabolicus, Gr. ? devilish, slanderous: cf. F. diabolique. See Devil.] Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; devilish; infernal; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; as, a diabolic or diabolical temper or act. ``Diabolic power.'' --Milton. ``The diabolical institution.'' --Motley. -- Di`a*bol"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Di`a*bol"ic*al*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe something as diabolical, you are emphasizing that it is very bad, extreme, or unpleasant. (INFORMAL) It was a diabolical error, a schoolboy error... = appalling ADJ [emphasis] • diabolically ...diabolically difficult clues. ADV

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. See diabolic

Moby Thesaurus

Draconian, Mephistophelian, Tartarean, animal, anthropophagous, atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, beastly, bestial, bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, brutal, brutalized, brute, brutish, cannibalistic, cruel, cruel-hearted, cursed, damnable, demoniac, demoniacal, demonic, demonish, demonlike, devil-like, devilish, diabolic, execrable, fell, feral, ferocious, fiendish, fiendlike, fierce, ghoulish, hellborn, hellish, infernal, inhuman, inhumane, murderous, ogreish, ruthless, sadistic, sanguinary, sanguineous, satanic, savage, sharkish, slavering, subhuman, truculent, unchristian, uncivilized, ungodly, unhuman, vicious, wolfish