fiend

[ feend ]

/ find /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fiend ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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)

Also feen

[feen] /fin/. Slang. to desire greatly: just another junkie fiending after his next hit; As soon as I finish a cigarette I'm fiending to light another.

Nearby words

fields, fields, w. c., fieldsman, fieldstone, fieldwork, fiend, fiendish, fiennes, fier, fierce, fieri facias

Origin of fiend

before 900; Middle English feend, Old English fēond; cognate with German Feind, Old Norse fjandr, Gothic fijands foe, orig. present participle of fijan to hate

Related forms

fiend·like, adjectiveun·der·fiend, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fiend

By the end Buck has been transformed into a monster—“the Fiend incarnate.”
American Dreams: ‘The Call of the Wild’ by Jack London|Nathaniel Rich|January 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Here is another Potter fiend crying over Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Watch Crying ‘Harry Potter’ Fans|The Daily Beast|July 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST
"I wish I'd shot that fiend to-day," said Barraclough savagely.
Hurricane Island|H. B. Marriott Watson
He hated people so much that when he died he became a fiend.
Tales from Tennyson|Molly K. Bellew

Then a fiend in a man's shape saw her, and offered inducements to her parents which ended in his marrying her.
Things as They Are|Amy Wilson-Carmichael
By Saint George, or rather by the Dragon, who may be a kinsman of the fiend in the straw, a most comical chance!
Kenilworth|Sir Walter Scott
If you expect my judgment of that fiend ever to be softened, you expect a miracle.
A Secret Inheritance (Volume 3 of 3)|B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon

British Dictionary definitions for fiend (1 of 2)

fiend

/ (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 somethinga fresh-air fiend; he is a fiend for cards
an addicta drug fiend

(informal) a mischievous or spiteful person, esp a child

Derived Forms

fiendlike, adjective

Word Origin for fiend

Old English fēond; related to Old Norse fjāndi enemy, Gothic fijands, Old High German fīant

British Dictionary definitions for fiend (2 of 2)

Fiend

/ (fiːnd) /

noun

the Fiend the devil; Satan

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