fiend
noun
Satan; the devil.
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fiend 2.
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
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Satan; the devil.
-
any evil spirit; demon.
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a diabolically cruel or wicked person.
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a person or thing that causes mischief or annoyance.
Those children are little fiends.
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Informal. a person who is extremely addicted to some pernicious habit.
an opium fiend.
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Informal. a person who is excessively interested in some game, sport, etc.; fan; buff.
a bridge fiend.
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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
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informal
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a person who is intensely interested in or fond of something
a fresh-air fiend
he is a fiend for cards
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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:
“The fiend has no head,” Knight commented in his review.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
I’m proud to say that I’m a sour candy fiend.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 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
“Rhonda, see that she does. I’ll lure them off by heading back for the boat. Perhaps I can cut behind them. Number Two, drive like a fiend and never look back!”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Both the Lubber Fiend and Cobalt believe more practical help should be available to club venues.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
At times he would appear as Wyatt, a happy-go-lucky character who hosted a children’s show, but when angered, he turned into The Fiend, during which he wore a horrific clown mask.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
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
Affrighted no more by the Fire Demon's cry Than the squeak of a rat; if the Fire Fiend was spry, His opponent was equally nimble.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, August 20, 1887. by Various
She can summon a Boarblin, and turn the army of snout-nosed, spear-wielding fiends against itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024
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
Lillian and her late husband, Frank, were absolute fiends for efficiency.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
In 1999's "Cruel Intentions" Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe play the elegant, perilously bored fiends bent on sullying the reputations of Selma Blair and Reese Witherspoon, this time in Manhattan instead of Paris.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2022
“My dear Beatrice, we are not all such fresh-air fiends as you,” said Maxim.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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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.
