diabolical

English

Etymology

From diabolic +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [ˌdaɪəˈbɒlɪkəɫ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): [ˌdaɪəˈbɑlɪkəɫ]

Adjective

diabolical (comparative more diabolical, superlative most diabolical)

1. Of or concerning the devil: devilish, satanic.

   Synonyms: daemonical, demonic, diabolic; see also Thesaurus:diabolical

   • 2021 January 1, Moncure Daniel Conway, Demonology And Devil-Lore, Volume 1 by Moncure Daniel Conway: Popular Books by Moncure Daniel Conway : All times Bestseller Demanding Books, BEYOND BOOKS HUB, →ISBN:

     […] the many diabolical names assigned to boiling springs and to torrents that become dangerously swollen. In California the boiling springs called 'Devil's Tea-kettle' and 'Devil's Mush-pot' repeat the 'Devil's Punch-bowls' of Europe […]

2. Extremely wicked or cruel.

   Synonyms: baneful, malevolent, malicious; see also Thesaurus:cruel, Thesaurus:evil

   a diabolical plan

3. (slang) (Devilishly) cunning or devious.

   Synonyms: crafty, sly, tricksy; see also Thesaurus:wily

4. (slang) Crazy, wild (sometimes especially due to being unexpected or surprising).

Derived terms

• archidiabolical
• diabolicality
• diabolically
• diabolicalness
• hyperdiabolical
• undiabolical

Translations

Of, or concerning the devil; satanic

• Arabic: شَيْطَانِيّ (šayṭāniyy)
• Catalan: diabòlic
• Finnish: pirullinen (fi), saatanallinen (fi)
• Irish: diabhlaí
• Italian: diabolico (it)
• Japanese: 悪魔的な (あくまてきな, akuma teki na)
• Latvian: velnišķs, velnišķīgs
• Plautdietsch: diewlisch
• Russian: дьявольский (ru) (dʹjavolʹskij)
• Spanish: diabólico (es)
• Turkish: şeytani (tr)

Extremely wicked or cruel

• Catalan: diabòlic
• Finnish: paholaismainen, pirullinen (fi)
• Italian: diabolico (it)
• Japanese: 残酷な (ざんこくな, zankoku na), 邪悪な (じゃあくな, jaaku na), 悪質な (あくしつな, akushitsu na)
• Russian: зверский (ru) (zverskij), а́дский (ru) (ádskij)
• Spanish: diabólico (es)