Mephistopheles
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- Mephistophelean adjective
- Mephistophelian adjective
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.
Railroad magnate and speculator Jay Gould was dubbed “the Mephistopheles of Wall Street” by ministers on the pulpit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
In life, however, Höfgen plays Faust, the weak, tempted one, while the part of Mephistopheles is taken by the Nazi state and its functionaries.
From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2020
The show featured Valk as Faustus, the singer Suzzy Roche as Mephistopheles and sound designer John Collins as a talking snake.
From The Guardian • Oct. 26, 2016
Slipak, who had won fame in France for his renditions of the aria of Mephistopheles from the opera “Faust,” adopted the nom-de-guerre Meph.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 1, 2016
She tries to pray and find comfort in her despair, but an awful voice mocks her endeavors, and that voice is Mephistopheles, who comes to her now in his true character.
From Stars of the Opera by Wagnalls, Mabel
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.
