bedevil
Americanverb (used with object)
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to torment or harass maliciously or diabolically, as with doubts, distractions, or worries.
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to possess, as with a devil; bewitch.
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to cause confusion or doubt in; muddle; confound.
an issue bedeviled by prejudices.
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to beset or hamper continuously.
a new building bedeviled by elevator failures.
verb
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to harass or torment
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to throw into confusion
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to possess, as with a devil
Other Word Forms
- bedevilment noun
Etymology
Origin of bedevil
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.
Their complexity bedevils the computer models that simulate how the climate could evolve.
That makes romance vulnerable to the same problem that bedevils almost every economic transaction: imperfect information.
While the new ordinance lowers hurdles for landlords interested in converting their underused buildings, they still face market and regulatory forces that bedevil all housing developers.
From Los Angeles Times
Employment reforms have bedeviled successive Indian governments since the country first opened its economy to the world in 1991, after nearly half a century of autarky.
Especially moving in “Neptune’s Fortune” is the insight and empathy Mr. Sancton brings to his consideration of the book’s bedeviled but oddly gallant protagonist.
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.
