fiend

[ feend ]

/ find /

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

British Dictionary definitions for fiending (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 fiending (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