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What is the difference between devil and evil?

devil | evil |

As nouns the difference between devil and evil

is that devil is a creature of hell while evil is moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.

As a verb devil

is to make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.

As a proper noun Devil

is the chief devil; Satan.

As an adjective evil is

intending to harm; malevolent.

devil

English

(wikipedia devil)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (theology) A creature of hell.
  • (theology) (the devil' ''or'' ' the Devil ) The chief devil; Satan.
  • The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
  • * The devil in me wants to let him suffer.
  • A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
  • * Those two kids are devils in a toy store.
  • A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
  • * That math problem was a devil .
  • (euphemistically, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell.
  • * What in the devil''' is that?'' ''What the '''devil is that?
  • * She is having a devil of a time fixing it.
  • * You can go to the devil for all I care.
  • A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil' and ' lucky devil .
  • A dust devil.
  • (religion, Christian Science) An evil or erring entity.
  • (dialectal, in compounds) A barren, unproductive and unused area.Dictionary of Regional American English Word Detective: Tales from the berm
  • devil strip
  • (cookery) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • Men and women busy in baking, broiling, roasting oysters, and preparing devils on the gridiron.
  • A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
  • Synonyms

    * (a creature of hell ): demon * (the chief devil''): Satan, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Old Nick, Old Scratch (''UK'' & ''US ), old-gooseberry, old gentleman * (thing awkward or difficult to understand or do''): bastard, bitch, bugger (''UK ), stinker * (wicked or naughty person ): imp, rascal, scamp, scoundrel * (as a euphemistic intensifier''): deuce (''euphemistic''), dickens (''euphemistic''), fuck (''only in senses with'' the ; ''taboo slang ), heck, hell * (a person, especially a man (as in "poor devil")''): bugger (''UK''), cow (''used of a woman''), sod (''UK )

    Antonyms

    * (a creature of hell) angel, god * (the chief devil) God * (the bad part of the conscience) angel, conscience * (thing awkward or difficult to understand) cakewalk (US ), piece of cake, simplicity itself * (sense, wicked or naughty person') angel, saint

    Derived terms

    * devil's luck * bedevil * better the devil you know * devilish, devillish * devilry, deviltry * a devil way * devil-may-care * the devil, you say! * the devil has all the best tunes * (the) devil is in the details * devil strip * * * devil dog * * * * devil's footstep * devil's lane * devil's own * * * devil's strip * (the) devil take the hindmost * * dust devil * folk devil * idle hands are the devil's workshop * the devil is in the details * give the devil his due * poor devil * speak of the devil * silver tongued devil * Tasmanian devil * what the devil * where the devil * who the devil * why the devil * how the devil

    Verb

  • To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
  • To annoy or bother; to bedevil.
  • To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
  • * 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia'', Faber & Faber 1992 (''Avignon Quintet ), page 401:
  • He did not repeat the scathing estimate of her character by Quatrefages, who at that time spent one afternoon a week devilling at the Consulate, keeping the petty-cash box in order.
  • To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
  • To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.
  • To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yolks are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.
  • * She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.
  • Usage notes

    * UK usage doubles the l' in the inflected forms "devi'''ll'''ed" and "devi' ll ing"; US usage generally does not.

    Synonyms

    * (annoy or bother ): annoy, bedevil, bother, irk, irritate, pester, trouble, peeve

    Derived terms

    * deviled egg, devilled egg * deviled ham, devilled ham

    See also

    * angel * demon * enemy * Lucifer * Satan * Ravana

    References

    evil

    English

    Adjective

  • Intending to harm; malevolent.
  • Do you think that companies that engage in animal testing are evil ?
  • Morally corrupt.
  • an evil plot to kill innocent people
  • * Shakespeare
  • Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, / When death's approach is seen so terrible.
  • Unpleasant. (rfex)
  • Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xxii. 19
  • He hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The owl shrieked at thy birth — an evil sign.
  • * Milton
  • Evil news rides post, while good news baits.
  • (obsolete) Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
  • an evil''' beast; an '''evil''' plant; an '''evil crop
  • * Bible, Matthew vii. 18
  • A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.
  • (computing, programming, slang) undesirable; harmful; bad practice
  • Global variables are evil ; storing processing context in object member variables allows those objects to be reused in a much more flexible way.

    Synonyms

    * nefarious * malicious * malevolent * See also

    Antonyms

    * good

    Derived terms

    * evil eye * evil laugh * evil laughter * evilly * evil-minded * Evil One * evil twin * evilness

    Noun

    (wikipedia evil)
  • Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
  • * Bible, (Ecclesiastes). ix. 3
  • The heart of the sons of men is full of evil .
  • * , chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm.
  • * (John Milton)
  • evils which our own misdeeds have wrought
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • The evil that men do lives after them.
  • (obsolete) A malady or disease; especially in the phrase king's evil (scrofula).
  • * (Shakespeare)
  • * Addison
  • He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil .

    Antonyms

    * good

    Derived terms

    * axis of evil * evildoer * king's evil * lesser evil * necessary evil * poll evil

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

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