fiend
noun
Satan; the devil.
Trivia Time
When did the word fiend first take on the informal meaning of an enthusiastic devotee or hobbyist?
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:
Matthieu Jalibert, a broken-field fiend, accepted the invite to run back and England were back under the pump.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
He’s a workout fiend, just like his father, Bill, was before him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2025
Ryker was a hockey fiend at about a year old, watching 6 a.m.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2024
At the time, one critic from The Times of London suggested that “some fiend had been laying siege to Sir Joshua’s taste.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2023
And he is in the dying city, crumbling into dust like an elemental fiend.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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
Oswalt is the author of two books, "Zombie Spaceship Wasteland" and "Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film."
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2016
The Fire Fiend was hungry as Moloch of old, And knew not the meaning of pity.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, August 20, 1887. by Various
I left the theater feeling giddily put through the wringer by its contrarian depictions of heroes and fiends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
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
She said he was "loved immensely by his family and fiends", adding that he was "kind, caring, and always checking up on you".
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2023
Lillian and her late husband, Frank, were absolute fiends for efficiency.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
“I’m a poor old woman with no money. How can I afford the repairs? Oh, why did I take you little fiends off the streets?”
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
