fiendish

[ feen-dish ]

/ ˈfin dɪʃ /

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See synonyms for: fiendish / fiendishly / fiendishness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

diabolically cruel and wicked.

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Origin of fiendish

First recorded in 1520–30; fiend + -ish¹

OTHER WORDS FROM fiendish

fiend·ish·ly, adverbfiend·ish·ness, noun

Words nearby fiendish

field trial, field trip, field winding, fieldwork, fiend, fiendish, Fiennes, fier, fierce, fiercely, fieri facias

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fiendish in a sentence

Michael Jewett, a professor of chemical engineering at Northwestern University who was not involved in the study, compares the intricate process of making a decoy to an especially fiendish puzzle.
Can you spot the fake receptor? The coronavirus can’t either.|Tatyana Woodall|August 27, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Surely only an advanced hacker could mastermind such a fiendish act — right?
A Female Writer’s New Milestone: Her First Death Threat|Annie Gaus|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Somewhere in the Afterlife, Laurence Sterne must have been tickled to see his fiendish book infused with new life.
Crazy Cartography: Artists and Writers Conjure a Slew of Imaginative Maps|Lauren Elkin|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Croatians, naturally, were the fiendish enemy, second only to the Turks.
Michael Tomasky on the Media’s Foolish Elizabeth Warren Witch Hunt|Michael Tomasky|May 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST

And he was a prankster, who devised outlandish even fiendish tricks to play on friends and unsuspecting associates.
J. Edgar Hoover Unmasked|Sandra McElwaine|November 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Although a few of the more fiendish ones will have you wishing all manner of physical harm on the developers.
Portal 2: The Best Videogame Ever?|Taylor Clark|April 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The enemy saw and with fiendish yells of triumph swarmed upon and over the pieces.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
It has upheld the grossest errors and the most fiendish theories as the special revelations of God.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
There came a volley followed by fiendish yells and the advance came tearing back, panic-stricken.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
A burly warrior scooped up coals on a piece of bark and with a fiendish grin leaped through the smoke.
A Virginia Scout|Hugh Pendexter
Laughing when, as you say yourself, the man that she—the cat—wrote that fiendish letter to is in trouble.
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete|Gilbert Parker

British Dictionary definitions for fiendish

fiendish

/ (ˈfiːndɪʃ) /

adjective

of or like a fiend

diabolically wicked or cruel

informal extremely difficult or unpleasanta fiendish problem

Derived forms of fiendish

fiendishly, adverbfiendishness, noun

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

fiendish

Origin of fiendish

OTHER WORDS FROM fiendish

Words nearby fiendish

Words related to fiendish

How to use fiendish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fiendish

Derived forms of fiendish