fiend
noun
Satan; the devil.
fiend
American
[feend]
/ find /
noun
fiends
plural
-
Satan; the devil.
-
any evil spirit; demon.
-
a diabolically cruel or wicked person.
-
a person or thing that causes mischief or annoyance.
Those children are little fiends.
-
Informal. a person who is extremely addicted to some pernicious habit.
an opium fiend.
-
Informal. a person who is excessively interested in some game, sport, etc.; fan; buff.
a bridge fiend.
-
a person who is highly skilled or gifted in something.
a fiend at languages.
verb (used without object)
fiend
1
British
/ fiːnd /
noun
-
an evil spirit; demon; devil
-
a person who is extremely wicked, esp in being very cruel or brutal
-
informal
-
a person who is intensely interested in or fond of something
a fresh-air fiend
he is a fiend for cards
-
an addict
a drug fiend
-
-
(informal) a mischievous or spiteful person, esp a child
Fiend
2
British
/ fiːnd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fiend
First recorded before 900; Middle English feend, Old English fēond; cognate with German Feind, Old Norse fjandr, Gothic fijands “foe,” originally present participle of fijan “to hate”
Explanation
A fiend is a person or monster who has evil plans in their mind. They may try to steal your soul, or perhaps just want to hurt your feelings. Either way, fiends never mean you well. The Old English root word for fiend translates to “an enemy, the devil, a demon”: three cruel characters that would delight in causing you harm. Watch out for fiends like them. A less wicked type of fiend is one who loves something so much that it’s scary, like a sugar-addicted jelly bean fiend, or a snowboarding fiend. Fiend is a good example of the “i before e except after c” rule, so follow that and you’ll always spell it right.
Vocabulary lists containing fiend
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act V
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He’s a workout fiend, just like his father, Bill, was before him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2025
Parvizi, a proud Iranian and self-described "salt fiend," holds a degree in food anthropology — a major she essentially designed herself.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2024
But then suddenly, Graeme's efforts pay off as we sight a stonechat, the feathered fiend who had evaded us earlier, sitting happily atop a fence post.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024
It telegraphs that Abigail is no barbaric horror fiend but instead a sophisticated aesthete, which makes her both scarier and funnier.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
“Rhonda, see that she does. I’ll lure them off by heading back for the boat. Perhaps I can cut behind them. Number Two, drive like a fiend and never look back!”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Both the Lubber Fiend and Cobalt believe more practical help should be available to club venues.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
Goldberg, however, acknowledges he can’t match the power of his prime and knows matches in his recent stint against The Fiend, The Undertaker and others have been panned — and with good reason.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2021
Cena is a middle-aged babyface who’s appeared in bad comedies like “Blockers” and computer-animated kids movies; The Fiend wears a demonic-looking white mask with a black mouth.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 2, 2020
With the case now ice cold, what would be gained if I somehow found this long-dead Fiend?
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2018
A rock off the coast of Brittany, said to have been the vessel of St Vougas, 360 Ship o’ the Fiend, The.
From Legends & Romances of Brittany by Spence, Lewis
She can summon a Boarblin, and turn the army of snout-nosed, spear-wielding fiends against itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024
The good news for summer fiends: The region is expected to warm up next week on Thursday and Friday.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024
Lillian and her late husband, Frank, were absolute fiends for efficiency.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
Sixty years ago in March 1963, Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror movie "The Birds" introduced viewers to a small seaside town in California that is suddenly and inexplicably attacked by ferocious feathered fiends.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2023
The other fiends seemed to shrink from her.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
