Give the devil his due
Admit it when there is some good even in a person you dislike. This saying appears in Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes.
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Give the devil his due
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give the devil his due
give the devil his dueGive credit to what is good in a disagreeable or disliked person. For example, I don't like John's views on education, but give the devil his due, he always has something important to say, or I don't like what the new management has done, but give the devil his due, sales have improved. [Late 1500s]
Give the devil his due
Cultural
give the devil his due
Idioms
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.
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Michigan Law's Yale Kamisar, a judicial liberal, said of Reagan: "Give the devil his due; it was a pretty good appointment."
From Time Magazine Archive
Give the devil his due, says the good old proverb.
From All Saints' Day and Other Sermons by Kingsley, Charles
Give the devil his due: not a bad chap—take him all round.
From The Dop Doctor by Dehan, Richard
Give the devil his due, say I. These wicked brethren of the coast go swaggering off of their own free will, as though it were to a frolic.
From Blackbeard: Buccaneer by Schoonover, Frank Earle
And, really, if you Give the devil his due In spite of the proverb—it's something you'll rue.
From Complete Poetical Works by Harte, Bret
You’ve got to give the devil his due.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 8, 2020
Devil's Due Sirs: I notice some folks don't like to "give the devil his due."
From Time Magazine Archive
Both biographers, without concealing their dislike, try to give the devil his due.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Oh, give the devil his due, you fellows,” he said.
From All Roads Lead to Calvary by Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka)
It's only fair to give the devil his due, John—you've been shrewd.
From The Challenge of the North by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
