diablerie
Americannoun
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diabolic magic or art; sorcery; witchcraft.
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the domain or realm of devils.
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the lore of devils; demonology.
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reckless mischief; deviltry.
noun
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magic or witchcraft connected with devils
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demonic lore or esoteric knowledge of devils
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the domain of devils
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devilry; mischief
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of diablerie
First recorded in 1650–60; from French: literally, “mischief,” from Old French diablerie, deablerie “an act inspired by the devil, sorcery,” equivalent to diable “devil” + -erie noun suffix; see devil, -ery
Explanation
Diablerie is a word that has to do with both mischief and the macabre. It describes anything from devilish behavior to black magic and dealings with the devil. The word is borrowed from the Middle French word diablerie, which is rooted in diable, "the devil." In English, it has two main shades of meaning: It can refer to sorcery, witchcraft, dark magic, or representations and descriptions of demons in art and literature. In 19th-century literature, it was a popular way to describe eerie or supernatural occurrences that defied explanation. But it also refers, in a more lighthearted way, to mischievous or "devilish" behavior.
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:
Bassan dies, not according to prophetic schedule, but largely because of Fedora's diablerie, ahead of time.
From Time Magazine Archive
Belated days of sunshine quickened all Hungary last week, speeding the Danube with tumbling freshets, warming Budapest to humorous appreciation of the first spring diablerie of Sari Fedak.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Maestro gets his laughs out of diablerie and the grotesque.
From Time Magazine Archive
Beneath the polish and the surface comradeship, Jim had always been conscious of some diablerie about the man, of some inner life of which he knew nothing.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930 by Bates, Harry
Ladies in plenty were eager to know the young man who played Luce with such diablerie and ready wit upon the stage.
From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First by Gozzi, Carlo
By what may or may not be coincidence, their admirably precise diableries are also gentler, more conventional, more philosophical, more ethereal than their American counterparts'.
From Time Magazine Archive
How beautiful are the scenes, about to follow, depicted in the overtures to Der Freyschutz and Oberon; what wild diableries are not suggested by those wonderful compositions!
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 333, July 1843 by Various
I perceive that many amateur American Al-Raschids are abroad in the land, pockets echoing the tintinnabulation of manifold marks and eyes abulge at the prospect of midnight diableries.
From Europe After 8:15 by Benton, Thomas H.
But in spite of his temper and his diableries he was very lovable and everybody liked him.
From The Sheik by Hull, E. M. (Edith Maude)
I want it to be pleasant and gay, and to throw myself en garçon on the festive diableries de Paris.
From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 1, 1833-1856 by Hogarth, Georgina
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.
