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.

What kind of Svengali powers — what kind of Mephistophelean charisma — might this aging Modesto defense attorney possess?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2021

Often behind a parapet of drums, Mr. Baker’s Mephistophelean stage presence, combined with his remarkably tasteful drumming, elevated the rock drummer from faceless metronome to percussive demigod.

From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2019

This was the heyday of the Mephistophelean eight-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti, the surge of Enrico Berlinguer’s communists, mafia wars in Palermo and Naples, and exotic soccer scandals.

From The Guardian • Apr. 3, 2017

At 39, Nawaz is handsome and vaguely famous looking in person, prematurely silver-haired, with a widow’s peak and Mephistophelean soul patch that punctuates a politician’s easy smile.

From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2017

"You don't hear the words," the doctor remarked, with a smile which, in the dark, looked Mephistophelean.

From The Bostonians, Vol. II (of II) by James, Henry