bedevil
to torment or harass maliciously or diabolically, as with doubts, distractions, or worries.
to possess, as with a devil; bewitch.
to cause confusion or doubt in; muddle; confound: an issue bedeviled by prejudices.
to beset or hamper continuously: a new building bedeviled by elevator failures.
Origin of bedevil
1Other words from bedevil
- be·dev·il·ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use bedevil in a sentence
He felt as in some hideous dream—long-involved—a maze of delusion and bedevilment, from which there was no escape.
Mount Royal, Volume 3 of 3 | Mary Elizabeth BraddonIsabelle did not formulate any plan of bedevilment for the Captain, but she watched for opportunities with lynx-eyed attention.
The Cricket | Marjorie CookeSo I hope there is the greater chance of no such bedevilment happening to me.
The Letters of Charles Dickens | Charles DickensScotland is the home of weird, uncanny creatures, who take lovely shapes for the bedevilment of poor weak souls.
Behind A Mask, Or A Woman's Power | A. M. BarnardShe had helped him—I had his own word for it that at Clockborough her bedevilment of the voters had really put him in.
The Coxon Fund | Henry James
British Dictionary definitions for bedevil
/ (bɪˈdɛvəl) /
to harass or torment
to throw into confusion
to possess, as with a devil
Derived forms of bedevil
- bedevilment, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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