fiendish

[ feen-dish ]

adjective

1. diabolically cruel and wicked.

fiendish

/ ˈfiːndɪʃ /

adjective

1. of or like a fiend
2. diabolically wicked or cruel
3. informal.
   extremely difficult or unpleasant

   a fiendish problem

Derived Forms

• ˈfiendishness, noun
• ˈfiendishly, adverb

Other Words From

• fiendish·ly adverb
• fiendish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiendish¹

First recorded in 1520–30; fiend + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Michael Jewett, a professor of chemical engineering at Northwestern University who was not involved in the study, compares the intricate process of making a decoy to an especially fiendish puzzle.

From MIT Technology Review

Surely only an advanced hacker could mastermind such a fiendish act — right?

From The Daily Beast

Somewhere in the Afterlife, Laurence Sterne must have been tickled to see his fiendish book infused with new life.

From The Daily Beast

Croatians, naturally, were the fiendish enemy, second only to the Turks.

From The Daily Beast

And he was a prankster, who devised outlandish even fiendish tricks to play on friends and unsuspecting associates.

From The Daily Beast

Although a few of the more fiendish ones will have you wishing all manner of physical harm on the developers.

From The Daily Beast

The enemy saw and with fiendish yells of triumph swarmed upon and over the pieces.

From Project Gutenberg

It has upheld the grossest errors and the most fiendish theories as the special revelations of God.

From Project Gutenberg

There came a volley followed by fiendish yells and the advance came tearing back, panic-stricken.

From Project Gutenberg

A burly warrior scooped up coals on a piece of bark and with a fiendish grin leaped through the smoke.

From Project Gutenberg

Laughing when, as you say yourself, the man that she—the cat—wrote that fiendish letter to is in trouble.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• brutish
• nefarious