play the devil with

Idioms

Upset, ruin, make a mess of, as in This weather plays the devil with my aching joints, or Wine stains play the devil with a white tablecloth. This allusion to diabolical mischief is heard more in Britain than in America. [Mid-1500s] Also see the synonym play havoc.

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.

He hated it, but in self-defense he repressed his homesickness and began to play the devil with his wit.

From Time Magazine Archive

For national purposes they are very well, and government ought to have kept them to themselves, for those objects; but they play the devil with merchants.

From Nature and Human Nature by Haliburton, Thomas Chandler

I wanted to talk with you sooner, but business and routine play the devil with one's desires in this office.

From Assassin by Bone, Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin)

It was anti-social, stupid, uncivilised, all I most hated, to let emotion play the devil with one's reasoned principles and theories.

From Potterism A Tragi-Farcical Tract by Macaulay, Rose, Dame

And I'm a fool to let you play the devil with me.

From Moor Fires by Young, E. H. (Emily Hilda)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023