devilry
Americannoun
noun
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reckless or malicious fun or mischief
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wickedness or cruelty
-
black magic or other forms of diabolism
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of devilry
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at devil, -ry
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 possessed both the winemaking skills and an appetite for devilry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
That makes a person wonder what manner of devilry they're concealing; after all, if there's literally nothing to see in front of us, surely it's hiding elsewhere.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2022
A different, more downbeat brand of devilry is afoot in "The Exorcist," which takes off from William Peter Blatty’s bestselling 1971 novel and director William Friedkin's 1973 film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2016
What’s missing from his performance in the movie is present in the end-credits bloopers, where he cuts loose with a cry of primal anarchy that conjures the comedic devilry he’d been holding at bay.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 7, 2016
‘We feared that Saruman was brewing some new devilry for us.’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Theer comed a circus here last month, with braave doin’s in the way of horsemanship and Merry Andrews, and such like devilries.
From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden
We never martyred a saint, and amid all the witch-hunting devilries of Scotland and England we burned only one witch, a namesake of my own.
From The Open Secret of Ireland by Kettle, T. M. (Thomas Michael)
And once every seven years he keeps tryst with Red Cap on the scene of his former devilries.
From Strange Pages from Family Papers by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)
I had come to Fifanti's house as a student of humanities and divinities; all that I had learnt there had been devilries culminating in this hour's work.
From The Strolling Saint; being the confessions of the high and mighty Agostino D'Anguissola, tyrant of Mondolfo and Lord of Carmina in the state of Piacenza by Sabatini, Rafael
"Nay, no Mingo will be near the portage, for that is a spot too public for their devilries," answered the Pathfinder confidently.
From Pathfinder; or, the inland sea by Cooper, James Fenimore
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.
